Love Is Blind Season 7 contestant, Stephen Richardson, has filed a class action suit against the producers of the Netflix reality TV series, while naming the streaming giant in the suit as well. Filed in the California state court on Monday, the allegations in the lawsuit include alleged labor violations and inhumane working conditions, among others.
Stephen Richardson appeared in Season 7 of Netflix’s hit reality series, where he connected with Monica. The pair eventually got engaged, but their relationship unraveled after Monica discovered Stephen had been sending s*xual messages to another woman. Although Richardson admitted to the behavior and issued an apology, the two have since gone their separate ways.
Stephen Richardson Lawsuit Claims Against Love Is Blind Explained
Love Is Blind Season 7 contestant Stephen Richardson has filed a class-action lawsuit against Netflix and producers Kinetic Content and Delirium TV, alleging labor violations and unsafe working conditions.
The lawsuit claims that Richardson and other cast members were deliberately misclassified as independent contractors when they should have been treated as employees entitled to protections like minimum wage, overtime pay, and regulated work conditions.
It states that the producers had “excessive control over the manner, means and timing of the work” (Variety) and oversaw every aspect of contestants’ lives, including their communications, eating, and sleeping schedules, and allegedly isolated them.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the filing follows a National Labor Relations Board complaint last year that also raised concerns about cast misclassification, potentially paving the way for unionization in reality TV.
Who Is the First Contestant to File a Lawsuit Against Love Is Blind?
While Season 7 contestant Stephen Richardson has recently made headlines with his lawsuit against Love Is Blind, he is not the first to take legal action against the reality series.
The earliest case dates back to 2022, when Jeremy Hartwell, a Season 2 participant, filed a lawsuit against Netflix, production company Kinetic Content, and casting company Delirium TV.
Hartwell alleged multiple labor-law violations, including misclassifying contestants as independent contractors, controlling virtually every aspect of their time and daily routines. He also claimed that they were restricting food and water, while allegedly providing excessive alcohol, leading to sleep deprivation and physical exhaustion, as per Variety.
He also argued that participants should have been classified as employees under California law, as production controlled their schedules and daily activities. Instead, they were treated as independent contractors and reportedly paid just $1,000 per week despite filming schedules of up to 20 hours a day.
Hartwell sought unpaid wages, compensation for missed meal breaks and rest periods, and damages for unfair labor practices. In 2024, the case was reportedly settled for just under $1.4 million, to be divided among attorneys and roughly 144 cast and crew, as per Courthouse News.
Other contestants have since taken legal action. Tran Dang, from Season 5, sued Kinetic Content and Delirium TV in 2024, alleging s*xual assault, false imprisonment, and negligence during filming (Variety). That same year, Renee Poche, also from Season 5, filed her own lawsuit, accusing them of labor violations.
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Love Is Blind is available to stream on Netflix.