ALICIA ROSS, SENIOR STAFF
“Since at least January 19, 2023, and continuing, Respondent has intentionally misclassified its Love is Blind cast members . . . as non-employee ‘participants’ thereby inhibiting them from engaging in Section 7 activity and depriving them of the protections of the [National Labor Relations] Act.” – National Labor Relations Board
Netflix’s Love is Blind is one of the most successful reality shows in television history. Since 2018, single adults in seven metropolitan areas across the U.S. have signed up for a “social experiment” designed to help them find and fall in love with their future spouse. The catch? The contestants must get engaged “sight unseen” if they wish to continue in the process. The bigger catch? They must sign away their legally protected labor rights and grant the producers complete control over their rights to publicity, exclusivity, and confidentiality.1
The contract in question is a lengthy document titled “Participant Release and Agreement” (“Agreement”), which production requires all Love is Blind participants to sign. The Agreement grants the employer “sole control” over all decision-making, including everything from the day-to-day production process to the show’s ultimate “results.” This presumably implies that the contestants must release control over the outcome of their own romantic relationships. In fact, the Agreement states explicitly that the show’s contestants must give up all expectation of privacy for “24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week.” Which begs the question, can they really form authentic intimate relationships anyway? More relevantly for labor law purposes, however, cast members must agree that their work on the show does not constitute “employment”—and is therefore categorically ineligible for collective bargaining, workers’ compensation, or salary standards. Despite stating that this is not an “employment” relationship, the document closely mirrors traditional employment contracts, containing an acknowledgement of the at-will nature of the “employment,” a non-compete clause forbidding the contestants from applying for any other shows, and an arbitration requirement.
Additionally, pursuant to the Agreement, the employer can decide to stop filming the show and abandon the concept altogether at any time, at which point the cast will receive “no stipend or consideration” whatsoever. Finally, after taking away all of these employees’ rights, the employer effectively stops them from speaking out about it and bans them from making “any derogatory comments or statements of any kind in any media” about the production company, the network, or the show.
Essentially, then, Love is Blind’s contract requires the show’s participants to contract away all employment protections under the law, including their right to even talk about any labor issues, whether in a courtroom, or on their Instagram story. In the same breath as stating the participants are not employees, however, the companies exert complete control over them—down to unilaterally choosing the forum in which they could challenge the contract, and limiting the type of relief to damages obly if they were to succeed. Unsurprisingly, quite a few cast members over the years have found this unfair enough to file suit.
The labor litigation began in summer 2022 in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County, with a large class action filed against Netflix. The complaint contained nine causes of action, including failure to pay minimum wage and overtime, failure to give breaks for meals and for resting, and claims for liquidated damages. Additionally, the suit alleged that the production companies “willfully misclassified the[] employees as independent contractors” and unlawfully required them to sign contracts depriving them of “basic labor code protections.” The heart of the complaint was the companies’ exercise of substantial control over the participants’ lives, while simultaneously claiming that the participants were simply contractors who retained their independence. In March 2025, after years of litigation, the Court approved a $1.4-million-dollar settlement. While the almost 150 class members and their attorneys must all split this sum, this case still serves as the first major “win” for the Love is Blind laborers.
In January 2024, another cast member filed suit against Netflix and Delirium—in the same state court in Los Angeles. This complaint included both statutory and common law claims, alleging violations of California Labor Code and asserting unfair competition and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Some of the contract sections challenged included the confidentiality clause, the mandatory arbitration provision, and an “overbroad release . . . insulat[ing] Defendants from liability of any conceivable kind.” As these contract provisions are standard in the reality-TV industry, this case had the potential to shake up contract-drafting in the unscripted television world, which have been described as “ubiquitous in the industry.” Seemingly unwilling to cause such a storm, however, the LA court compelled arbitration and stayed the case pending its outcome.
In the midst of the state court litigation, the NLRB—the federal entity responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”)—recently stepped in. In December 2024, the Board filed a complaint against the two production companies, which it argues constitute joint employers of the participants.2 Next, the NLRB deems the Agreement’s arbitration provision illegal, due to its unlawful interference with NLRA rights. A far cry from compelling arbitration like the LA court, the federal Board took a strong stance against this industry standard.
Most groundbreakingly, however, the NLRB asserts that the Love is Blind employees are in fact employees—not “non-employee ‘participants,’” as their contracts claimed.The complaint seeks an Order requiring the show to both prospectively and retroactively reclassify participants as employees, and notify them of this change in writing. Further, production must rescind all cease-and-desist letters it has sent out in reliance on the unenforceable contracts, as well as pay damages to any employee that has suffered loss because of them.
Procedurally, the next step is for an administrative law judge to hear and decide the case. Subsequently, either side can appeal the outcome to the NLRB Board, which can petition a federal appeals court. From there, the case could even make its way all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the meantime, this complaint could result in other reality shows’ production companies releasing the reins a little on their cast members—whose talents are undoubtedly essential to their success. Once a genre that ostensibly aimed to capture “reality,” unscripted programming has evolved far beyond a cameraman following already-famous figures around. Today, reality shows are often multi-million-dollar productions filled with fresh talent, generating revenue for media conglomerates worth billions. While Love is Blind is a fairly new show in this world, stars from canonical reality shows like The Real Housewives have been fighting this fight for years. From ownership over their own entrepreneurial endeavors to the option to unionize, reality TV cast members have long sought stronger protections. Now that the NLRB has come out on their side, could the Love is Blind litigants emerge as leaders in the fight for fairer labor practices?
While it may be too early to expect production companies to start slashing arbitration clauses and non-competes from all unscripted casts’ contracts, the NLRB complaint will undoubtedly send shockwaves throughout the industry. For reality-TV fanatics who worry this could cause production to slow down: don’t fret. All this means is that your favorite reality stars will get the same bottom line employment benefits that your favorite scripted actors do. And for those who think these “benefits” are undeserved because the cast members may be able to build a brand for themselves after, these companies can afford to cover the costs of paying participants a livable wage and giving them a break every once in a while. These basic rights are far from lavish luxuries; federal labor law has entitled private-sector employees to them for over a hundred years. It’s time for the reality TV world to get with the program!
The Labor and Employment Law Society Brief 