An Unexpected NLRB Love Is Blind Ruling Could Impact All Of Reality TV

Netflix's Love Is Blind is a fun and light reality TV dating show, the sort of thing you might flip on when you want to forget about "real life" — which makes a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) all the more jarring.

If you're not a Love Is Blind viewer, its format is as the name suggests — contestants are single, and their show-related mingling starts "blindly," as in "without them seeing one another."

For an ostensibly easy to watch and carefree show, Love Is Blind has already come in for its share of controversy.

On November 22, we covered allegedly "sketchy" casting practices, explaining:

"What started out as a blind dating experiment for hopeful singles has quickly evolved into something much darker ... fans have pointed out that the vetting behind cast members has been sorely lacking.

"It's only after filming has concluded that dark truths have come out about some of the contestants, with everything from reveals about cast members being in relationships during the experiment to [intimate] assault allegations that were never spoken about."

As we noted, Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen said of the casting backlash: "Everyone in the world has a story and we aren’t the police."

There are also rigid rules for Love Is Blind contestants, largely as part of the show's structure, but in terms of controversy, it mainly has had to do with vetting, and scandals unearthed later than they ought to be.

"Vetting scandals" are depressingly common across the dating part of the reality genre, with the most recent season of The Bachelorette serving as a prime example of lax background checking.

However, Love Is Blind is now part of a different type of controversy entirely, following a surprising NLRB ruling earlier this month.

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Back on December 11, The New York Times reported on a shocking NLRB ruling concerning Love Is Blind.

It stemmed from a complaint handled by a NLRB office in the Midwest, and the paper indicated it "could have ripple effects across the reality television industry."

In addition to identifying myriad "labor violations," the Times said the outcome could eventually impact the entire reality television genre — and enable reality stars to unionize:

"The complaint by the labor board’s regional office in Minnesota says that the show committed several labor violations, including unlawful contractual terms related to confidentiality and noncompete provisions.

"By classifying the cast members — who date and sometimes marry other singles on the show — as employees with certain federal legal protections, the complaint opens the door to possible unionization."

That article cited the experience of a former Love Is Blind contestant, Renee Poche, who publicly complained about being "allowed to" get engaged to a problematic contestant.

She was subsequently forced into "arbitration proceedings against her, accusing her of violating her nondisclosure agreement and seeking $4 million."

Renee and contestant Nick Thompson both filed NLRB complaints, and the Times quoted an attorney representing Renee on specific labor-related complaints:

"Cast members are stripped of fundamental rights, gagged from speaking out, denied legal recourse, paid virtually nothing, subjected to the ever-present threat of ruinous liquidated damages and prevented from working elsewhere. These practices must stop."

On December 14, Vox.com analyzed the NLRB's decision, and its genre-wide implications.

According to the outlet, the NLRB maintained that Love Is Blind contestants should be classified as employees, and consequently, be protected as such:

"In a first for the reality television industry, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) argued on [December 13] that contestants on Netflix’s dating show Love Is Blind should be classified as employees — a designation that would give them significantly more on-set protections, including the ability to unionize."

However, that recommendation doesn't immediately translate into changes for Love Is Blind or other shows in the genre, as "multiple things still have to happen before that statement becomes policy."

On December 17, NPR covered the case, and noted that while nothing firm had yet come of it, "it's the first major labor action filed on behalf of unscripted TV cast members, and could lead to big changes to reality shows behind the scenes[,] and even what we see on our screens."