Love is Blind lawsuit: Another past cast member is suing Netflix and show producers over 'inhumane working conditions'

Season seven Love Is Blind star Stephen Richardson has sued the producers of the hit Netflix dating show in a class action suit, claiming he and other cast members were subjected to “inhumane working conditions.”

In his Los Angeles Superior Court-filed complaint, Richardson alleges Netflix and producers bound he and fellow castmates up in Non-Disclosure Agreements and then played “fast and loose with their reality” for the benefit of TV, as reported by Deadline.

The suit, which was filed in court on Monday (September 16), named Netflix and producers of Love Is Blind, Kinetic Content and Delirium TV as defendants.

In it, Richardson also said contestants suffered from a “combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food, and an excess of alcohol.” The suit also stated that producers used “excessive control over the manner, means and timing of the work”.

It goes on to allege that those involved in the making of the show created “unsafe” working conditions by limiting the cast’s communications with those outside the show alongside “exerting complete domination over their time.”

In his filing, Richardson has said he is not the only cast member who has been impacted, and has has proposed his class action suit to include those who were on “but not limited to seasons 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the series.” He is also not the only contestant who has put their name to a filing and complained about their treatment while filming the show, and in the subsequent edit.

Multiple Love Is Blind cast members from various seasons are now all part of a lawsuit against the show producers, and have all said they think they should be entitled to protections under California law, which includes minimum wage and overtime pay. They will be seeking damages, but the amount of money they are asking for is not known.

The class action suit argues that the circumstances were shared not only by Stephen but also by Love Is Blind cast members who were on the show at least four years before it was filed, as well as those who have been involved in other similar reality TV series.

Richardson’s filing comes soon after season five Love Is Blind star Stacy Snyder won a multi-million claim against the production company alongside others who had also joined the class action lawsuit and she received $8,287. The lawsuit was originally filed in July 2022 by Jeremey Hartwell, who appeared on Love Is Blind season 2.

The claim also alleged that cast members were subjected to “inhumane working conditions” with Jeremy claiming he and his cast mates were made to wait hours for food and water during the first 24 hours of filming, and this had a negative impact on their mental health.

In the lawsuit he claimed: “The combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food, and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled or encouraged by defendants contributed to inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the cast.

“At times, defendants left members of the cast alone for hours at a time with no access to a phone, food, or any other type of contact with the outside world until they were required to return to working on the production.”

The pay contestants received was also called in to question in the lawsuit as it was claimed that cast and crew on Love Is Blind had to film for 20 hours per day, seven days a week which amounting to working for just $7.14 per hour.

At the time, the production company behind the show, Kinetic, released a statement which stated: “While we will not speculate as to his motives for filing the lawsuit, there is absolutely no merit to Mr Hartwell’s allegations, and we will vigorously defend against his claims.”

In May last year, however, he reached a $1.4 million (around £1 million) settlement with Netflix in the case, according to local press. The money was to be divided between attorneys and approximately 144 former cast and crew members.

Other cast members have also spoken out against the show and taken legal action. Season five star Renee Poche also claims to have only been paid just $8,000 (around £6,000) for her time on the show.

Last year she also sued Netflix and production companies Kinetic Content and Delirium TV after allegedly being penalised for “breaching her contract by publicly discussing her experience on the show”. The producers had taken out an arbitration against her in November for “some limited public remarks about her distressing time on the programme”. In her countersuit, Renee shared that she felt like “a prisoner” during her time on the show.

Renee is also seeking damages, a jury trial, as well as a court declaration that the NDA is “illegal, invalid and unenforceable”.

Netflix, Kinetic Content and Delirium TV have not commented on Richardson’s latest lawsuit.