Two dating websites in Dallas and Vancouver face a lawsuit for exploiting the image of a dead American soldier killed in Iraq.

 

Pof.com and True.com have been using a photo of Army Lieutenant Peter Burks, who died on November 14, 2007, following a roadside bomb attack. Burks’ parents complained to the dating companies and asked them to take down the image that’s accompanied by the captions “Military Man Searching for Love” And “Soldiers Want You!”

 

When the website continued to run the photo, the parents, Alan Burks and Jackie Hlastan, filed their lawsuit, which seeks punitive damages for intrusion on seclusion, misappropriation of their son’s likeness, and violation of the Texas Property Code. They have offered to donate any money they are awarded to military charities. Alan Burks and Pete’s fiancée, Missy Haddad, operate a non-profit organization, the Unsung Hero Fund, that sends care packages to U.S. soldiers and support staff in war zones, and school supplies, soccer balls and other humanitarian supplies to young people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Parents of Lieutenant Killed in Iraq Sue Dating Sites in Heartbreaker (by Marimer Matos, Courthouse News Service)

In '07, Peter Burks Was Killed in Baghdad. Now His Photo's Being Used to Sell Dating Website (by Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer)

Alan Burks and Jackie Hlastan v. Plenty of Fish Media (Dallas County District Court) (pdf)