‘Love Is Blind’ Contestants Are Employees, National Labor Relations Board Complaint Says
A National Labor Relations Board office is arguing in a complaint against the Love Is Blind producers that the show’s contestants have been misclassified and are in fact employees.
A regional office in Minnesota issued the complaint on Wednesday evening against Kinetic Content and Delirium TV, LLC, arguing that the dating show producers flouted the National Labor Relations Act. The producers “intentionally unlawfully” misclassified its contestants as “participants” rather than employees, which barred the contestants from organizing to improve wages and working conditions, the NLRB alleged in an announcement of the case on Thursday.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
The complaint additionally argues that the contracts contestants signed to participate in the show included “unlawful non-compete, confidentiality, and stay-or-pay provisions” and litigation was threatened if employees engaged in organizing. Contestants were forbidden from discussing any details of their employment and the producers sought to enter an arbitration to “enforce unlawful provisions” and pursue $4 million in damages as well as a permanent injunction barring any violations of those provisions.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the attorney representing the production companies. The Love Is Blind distributor, Netflix, declined comment.
The NLRB case follows several lawsuit filed in the last few years by Love Is Blind contestants that allege mistreatment on set. In one class-action claim, season two contestant Jeremy Hartwell alleged that the show’s contestants were deprived of sleep and adequate food and water while being plied with alcohol as they were paid less than minimum wage; he eventually reached a settlement with Kinetic Content, Delirium TV and Netflix for nearly $1.4 million. Season five contestants Tran Dang and Renee Poche have made additional allegations; Poche’s claim went to arbitration.
In the social-experiment format of Love Is Blind, contestants looking for love speed-date each other as they occupy separate rooms, not able to see each other unless they get engaged to be married. Fifteen women and fifteen men compete in each season, whose dating period lasts only 10 days.
With its complaint, the NLRB is attempting to obtain a mandate for the producers to reclassify their contestants as employees and to recompense contestants for any loss of income or benefits as a result of the alleged misclassification and/or any legal fees incurred from claims by the producers, among other objectives. An additional goal, the NLRB announcement stated, was to compel the producers to “rescind the unlawful provisions that were executed, enforced, or in effect at any time since January 19, 2023.”
An initial hearing is scheduled for April 22, 2025 in Milwaukee.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
