A grievance towards Netflix courting present Love Is Blind may open the door to widespread unionization within the unscripted tv world, hastening a actuality reckoning.
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a grievance towards Kinetic Content, the corporate behind the hit present, and its subsidiary Delirium TV. The submitting got here from Jennifer Hadsall, regional director of the board in Minnesota.
It was filed after complaints from contestants together with Renee Poche and Nick Thompson and has demanded that the producers “reclassify all ‘members’ since January 19, 2023, as workers and notify them in writing that they’re workers for functions of the Act”.
In the declare, the NLRB mentioned by not doing so contestants have been “disadvantaged” of their employees’ rights.
In January, Season 5 participant Poche took Delirium and Netflix to court docket to place the brakes on the multi-million arbitration motion the producers took towards her in November 2023 over violations of the NDA she signed as part of the truth romance sequence.
Lawyer Bryan Freedman, who represents Poche, mentioned that the “actuality reckoning is alive and nicely”.
“Mark Geragos and I, together with our authorized groups, have been working carefully with the NLRB for over a yr and are thrilled that this collaboration has resulted in a monumental submitting that guarantees to alter the truth TV business endlessly. The practices recognized by the NLRB in its grievance towards Delirium are ubiquitous on this area. Make no mistake, the truth reckoning is alive and nicely. This isn’t the final shoe to drop. Standby,” he mentioned.
The transfer comes forward of season eight of Love Is Blind, which is ready to premiere in February.