In a recent move that seems sure to set off ripples that change the mostly unregulated reality TV industry, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint this week to Netflix’s producers of Love Is Blind and let them know that contestants have to be classified as employees and also given workplace protections.
The complaint comes after some of the cast members of Netflix’s popular dating show filed charges last year citing unfair labor practices — including some that are related to non-compete provisions and confidentiality.
The National Labor Relations Board has now issued a formal complaint against the company responsible for the show Kinetic Content and its subsidiary, Delirium TV. It demands that the show’s producers “reclassify all ‘participants’ since January 19, 2023, as employees and notify them in writing that they are employees for purposes of the Act.”
Earlier this year, Season 5 participant Renee Poche brought Delirium and Netflix to court to halt the multimillion arbitration action that the show’s producers filed against her last November due to NDA violations.
Her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, gave a recent statement after the ruling and said that the “reality reckoning is alive and well.”
“Mark Geragos and I, along with our legal teams, have been working closely with the NLRB for over a year and are thrilled that this collaboration has resulted in a monumental filing that promises to change the reality TV industry forever,” said Freedman. “The practices identified by the NLRB in its complaint against Delirium are ubiquitous in this space. Make no mistake, the reality reckoning is alive and well. This is not the last shoe to drop. Standby.”
Poche recently spoke with Deadline about her feelings about the ruling. “I’m very excited. It’s finally like someone’s really listening that can make a huge impact,” she said. “Besides, of course, the lawyers and everyone that’s helped me to this point, I am also excited that it’s not just for me personally in my specific case, but the industry as a whole. It’s amazing, really, for all of us.”
