Contestants on Netflix’s hit reality dating show “Love Is Blind” should be considered employees, according to a complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board reported by The New York Times.
Classifying the cast members of the reality show as employees could open the door for unionization, provide federal legal protections and set a precedent for other reality shows, The Times highlighted.
The reality series, which just concluded a seventh season, centers around single men and women who date each other through a “pod” experience where they can only hear one another and don’t physically see their partner until after they decide to become engaged. The newly-engaged couples are then followed day-to-day as meet one another’s families and friends and finish with a wedding where they either decide to move forward with marriage or walk away.
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Some cast members have filed complaints in recent years regarding their strict contracts with the production companies behind the show, Kinetic Content and Delirium TV. The New York Times, which did not receive a comment from the companies, reported that the companies have asserted in the past that the contestants on their shows are not employees.
But the NLRB’s complaint, filed Wednesday, stated the companies only classified the cast members as “participants” rather than employees so they could push contracts that would prevent them from having certain working condition rights and speaking publicly about their experiences, according to Reuters.
Netflix is not named in the complaint and has not commented.