A Love Is Blind cast member is asking a California court to treat reality-show contestants less like “participants” and more like employees.
In a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Season 7 contestant Stephen Richardson alleges that Netflix and the show’s producers—Kinetic Content and Delirium TV—subjected cast members to unsafe working conditions and failed to provide legally required pay and protections.
What Richardson alleges happened on set
At the core of the filing is a classification fight. Richardson claims cast members were misclassified as independent contractors even though, he argues, production exercised sweeping control over their schedules and daily routines—control he says is more consistent with an employer-employee relationship under California labor standards.
The complaint also describes conditions Richardson’s side characterizes as unsafe or coercive, including allegations that contestants had limited ability to leave, limited communication with the outside world, and restrictions tied to personal items like phones and IDs.
Pay, breaks, and the remedies being sought
Richardson’s lawsuit seeks class-action status and argues that, if contestants are treated as employees, they would be entitled to protections such as minimum wage, overtime, and meal/rest breaks—plus penalties and damages if those protections were denied.
Why this lawsuit matters beyond one season
This isn’t the first legal dispute connected to the franchise. Previous contestants have raised similar labor-related concerns, and the issue has also drawn attention from federal labor authorities. Entertainment Weekly notes the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint in 2024 tied to alleged misclassification of Love Is Blind cast as contractors, which could affect how reality participants are treated under labor law.
Not everyone from the cast agrees
Importantly, at least one Season 7 participant has publicly pushed back. Marissa George posted that she disagreed with key allegations (while acknowledging phones were restricted as part of the show’s format), and said food/water access was not an issue in her experience—underscoring that even within the same production, accounts may differ.
What happens next
Because this is a proposed class action, a court would still need to decide whether it can proceed on behalf of a broader group—and the defendants would have the opportunity to respond formally in court. For now, what’s established is the filing itself, the defendants named, and the allegations Richardson is putting in front of a judge.
