The National Labor Relations Board made a significant decision regarding reality television by filing a complaint against Love Is Blind on Wednesday. The argument presented in the complaint is that the contestants of the show should be treated as employees.
This marks a major milestone for reality television as it could give the Netflix show’s contestants the opportunity to unionize.
As reported by The New York Times, the complaint alleges that the show has violated labor laws in its treatment of contestants. It highlights certain unjust contractual terms imposed on the contestants, such as restrictions on giving interviews or appearing in the media for a year after the show concludes. Two former contestants, Renee Poche and Nick Thompson, took their concerns to the NLRB.
The complaint specifically points fingers at Delirium TV and Kinetic Content, the companies responsible for producing the show on Netflix. It states that categorizing the cast members as mere “participants” is considered unlawful, according to USA Today.
Decider has reached out for comment.
Bryan Freedman, who represents Poche in her lawsuit against the show, said in a statement, âCast members are stripped of fundamental rights, gagged from speaking out, denied legal recourse, paid virtually nothing, subjected to the ever-present threat of ruinous liquidated damages and prevented from working elsewhere. These practices must stop,” per The New York Times.
Love is Blind, which recently aired its seventh season, challenges 30 singles to date each other without meeting face-to-face until they are ready to become engaged. Those who agree to walk down the aisle together also get more screen time as the show follows them in their new lives together.
The hit series has been hit with several lawsuits from former contestants who claim they were subjected to “inhumane working conditions.”
Poche, who competed in Season 5, filed a lawsuit in early 2024 claiming the show’s producers forced her to marry an abusive man who struggled with substance abuse. She alleged that the producers threatened to take legal action if she did not get engaged to him.
She then decided to speak out about her negative experience with Delirium TV, which the company claims violated her NDA. Delirium TV demanded $4 million from Poche, though she was only paid $8,000 for starring on the show.
In another lawsuit, Season 5 contestant Tran Dang claims she was sexually assaulted by her former fiancé Thomas Smith while filming. She also accused the producers of “false imprisonment.”
Series creator Chris Coelen later shut down the accusations in an interview with Variety, calling the accusations âinsultingâ and âdisrespectful.â
“I urge all potential participants to always prioritize their own well-being, above being on TV, or participating in this experiment, no matter how great the upside might potentially be,” he said, adding that producers are âreally transparent about the details of what participating in Love Is Blind entails.â
The NLRB’s complaint aims to make the production companies pay the contests back any wages lost by agreeing to these provisions.
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