Lawsuit filed by Desperate Wannabe Wife of New York?

September 22nd, 2014. By LucyC

Possibly the most expensive dates in the world could cost a self-proclaimed elite matchmaker his livelihood. And hey, maybe it should. Richard Easton, who appears to be bordering on the notorious, is facing a lawsuit brought by a 61-year old real estate maven—Audrey Ruden—who claims, essentially, that Easton defrauded her of a six figure fee for what amounted to two dates with a couple of deadbeats.

Admittedly, if Ruden had taken a quick poll of New Yorkers as to whether it was rational thinking on her part to spend six figures on finding a date—let alone husband material—the resounding response would be “No”. But, of course, we won’t focus here on the collective raised eyebrow we’re all shooting in Ruden’s direction at present; we’ll focus on the biz deal she apparently had with Easton…

Ruden, a top New York realtor, hired Easton (whose credits include a recent appearance on ‘Real Housewives of New York’) to help her find a husband. (Why does Shakespeare come to mind at this point…) The—are you sitting down—$100,000 fee, which incidentally exceeds the state’s Dating Services Law preventing “purveyors of social referral services” from charging above $1,000 per client, wasn’t enough to produce the goods, according to the lawsuit.  Ok, really? Easton could have hired a few well qualified escorts for that kind of dosh—and know exactly what she was getting. As it turned out, the Mensa members who were recruited to take her out on dates just wanted sex, now there’s a surprise.

Also not surprising, Ruden wants her money back. Ya think. On paper, Ruden appears to be quite a catch for some lucky guy- she’s a top Douglas Elliman broker, who has $500 million in luxury real estate sales to her credit (but sadly, no appearances on ‘Real Housewives of New York’—well, she does have the ‘New York’ part covered, but is still missing that ‘Housewife’ moniker…). So, she knows a thing or two about client satisfaction. In her lawsuit, she states Easton claimed to offer “personalized, sophisticated, thoughtful matchmaking services provided by highly trained experts.” (Trained in what?)

Ruden alleges “This is a lie.” She claims she was promised matches with “marriage-minded men,” the lawsuit states. (OK, that’s an oxymoron—what’s your first clue?)

Instead, she had two not terribly great dates with bachelors who only had an interest in short-term flings, according to court documents. One of the dates even questioned “why she was pursuing marriage,” the suit states. Well, that’s a reasonable question—but what’s the context?

According to court documents, Ruden, who lives on the Upper East Side, accuses Easton of hiring men “to create a false impression of performing the contracted-for services.” Wouldn’t be the first guy to do this—in fact one of his competitors—celebrity matchmaker Matt Titus—is also facing a lawsuit brought by a former teen model, who made similar allegations that she was set up with “fake” dates. Titus denied those claims, saying that the client was simply very demanding. Sounds familiar. In this case, Easton also blames his client for the failure of their husband hunting joint venture—the lawsuit states that the self-described “international playboy” belittled Ruden “in a condescending and sarcastic manner.”

It didn’t take long before Ruden realized Easton “had taken advantage of her intense desire to be in a committed relationship” and demanded her money back. But he refused, the lawsuit claims. (Ok, we said we’d refrain, but “intense desire”? Ouch! Lots of alarms going off there, eh?)

Easton does seem to be racking up the lawsuits. He’s also facing a little court action from his landlord  who filed a lawsuit earlier this month, alleging Easton demanded oral sex from a housekeeper, ordered building staff to call him “Prince” and allowed his dog to defecate on the roof deck. Sounds like quite a catch himself—but I think you’d need a net for this one—and maybe a big white van.

Easton runs his matchmaking business out of an $11,500-a-month apartment. He has retaliated against his landlord by threatening a defamation suit. Now that should be entertaining.

Wow. So who’s gonna write the pilot for “Desperate Wannabe Wives of New York”? It just might be ready for prime time…

This was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2014 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Totally Tortelicious . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.