In the Netflix series titled Love is Blind, contestants are put together in separate “pods” in search of love in an unorthodox manner. Without ever meeting and talking through a wall, couples get engaged to see if love is truly blind and can withstand the testament of love by not falling for the tropical vain factors that attract one another. [1] But if the arrangement is being controlled by outside factors is love really blind or is love being directed? When the arrangement to find love is extensively construed by a third party, should contestants maintain status as independent contractors, or should the substantial amount of work performed rise to the protections warranted of an employee as these individuals set out to find their perfect match?
Jeremy Hartwell, a former Season 2 contestant, filed a lawsuit against Love Is Blind on April 22, 2022, alleging that “Netflix willfully misclassified and upon information and belief continue to misclassify Jeremy Hartwell, the Class Members, and Aggrieved Employees, including those holding positions as ‘Contestant,’ ‘Participant,’ ‘Cast Member,’ and similar job titles (herein referred to as the ‘Cast’)”[.] [2] The lawsuit claims that because the Love Is Blind producers controlled the time, style, and means of their work, contestants should have been treated as employees under California state law instead of as independent contractors. [3]. In California, an independent contractor is classified by whether the principal has the right to decide how and by what means the work is done. [4] A principal (the employer) is the person or entity on whose behalf and subject to whose control an agent (the employee) acts. [5] Independent contractors assert control over the methods by which the work will be done rather than the contracted party. In this contestant and producer relationship, the scope of control is in line with the employee and employer instead of being independent contractors. [6]
The Cast’s “time, access to food and drink, sleeping arrangements,” and interactions with loved ones and people outside of production were all significantly controlled by Netflix while the show was being produced. [7] Throughout the course of the show, Netflix did not permit the Cast to move or behave as they pleased. [8] Netflix’s control of food and water mixed with isolation made cast members “hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making.” [9]
Despite being forced to work up to 20 hours per day, 7 days a week, the producers paid contestants a flat rate of $1,000 per week.[10] According to the complaint, that equates to as little as $7.14 per hour, much below the minimum wage of $15 per hour in Los Angeles County. [11]Although there is no definitive number for wages or hours that change an independent contractor into an employee, the focus is whether the employer possesses all essential direct or indirect control over the specifics of the employee. [12] Hartwell’s lawsuit seeks “unpaid wages, financial compensation for missed meal breaks and rest periods,” plus unspecified monetary damages for “unfair business practices and civil penalties for labor code violations.” [13]
Without a defining independent contractor or employee classification, the range of liability in a lawsuit can vary. When reality TV is not so “reality,” where does that leave the contestants? Reality show production and casting corporations wield more control over the contestants than the law permits to legitimately classify a contestant as an independent contractor. In the future, reality TV contestants may want to consider employment classifications before applying to these shows. Do they want to be owed higher care from their employers as employees if things go south or be considered independent contractors with “freer” control?
[1] Love is Blind (Netflix 2022).
[2] Complaint for Damages and Injunctive Relief at 6, Jeremy Hartwell vs Kinetic Content, LLC, et al., No. 22STCV21223 (Cal. Super. Ct. June 6, 2022).
[3] Todd Spangler, “Love Is Blind” Producers Respond to Contestant’s Claims of ‘Inhumane Working Conditions’: ‘There Is Absolutely No Merit’, Variety (July 14, 2022, 3:50 PM), https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/love-is-blind-contestant-lawsuit-netflix-1235316058/.
[4] State of Cal. Emp. Dev. Dep’t, Employment Determination Guide (DE 38), 1https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/pdf_pub_ctr/de38.pdf.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id. at 2
[8] Id. at 2
[9] Marianne Garvey, ‘Love Is Blind’ contestants forced to film drunk, hungry and sleep-deprived, lawsuit claims, CNN (July 16, 2022, 9:43 AM), https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/16/entertainment/love-is-blind-lawsuit/index.html.
[10] Id. at 3
[11] Id. at 3
[12] State of Cal. Dep’t of Indus. Relations, Div. of Lab. Standards Enf’t, Independent Contractors, 1 (2011), https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/independentcontractors.pdf.
[13] Elena Nicolaou and Diana Dasrath, Former ‘Love Is Blind’ contestant sues the Netflix show for ‘inhumane working conditions’, Today ( July 14, 2022), https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/love-is-blind-lawsuit-jeremy-hartwell-cast-member-rcna38053.
[14] Love Is Blind Wiki. “Search Media.” Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication, 11 May 2020, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=love%2Bis%2Bblind&title=Special%3AMediaSearch&go=Go&type=image.