Love Is Blind Cast Member Sues Show And Claims Contestants Were Denied Food And Water

A former Love is Blind contestant has filed a lawsuit against the show, alleging 'inhumane working conditions'.

Jeremy Hartwell appeared on season two of the hit show, which aims to prove that love really is blind by having contestants meet sight unseen in the hope of developing a deeper connection.

But, rather than finding love, Jeremy has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and the show's producers, which will act as "a proposed class action on behalf of all participants in Love Is Blind and other non-scripted productions."

In the lawsuit, Jeremy alleges that: "They [the show] intentionally underpaid the cast members, deprived them of food, water and sleep, plied them with booze and cut off their access to personal contacts and most of the outside world. This made cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making."

These sentiments were followed up yesterday, 13 July, in a statement from Jeremy's lawyer, Chantal Payton, of Payton Employment Law.

The lawyer said: "The contracts required contestants to agree that if they left the show before filming was done, they would be penalized by being required to pay $50,000 in ‘liquidated damages.’

"With that being 50 times what some of the cast members would earn during the entire time that they worked, this certainly had the potential to instill fear in the cast and enable production to exert even further control."

The allegations continued in court documents obtained by US Weekly, as Jeremy goes on to note that: "The only drinks that [were] regularly provided to the cast were alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks and mixers" and that 'hydrating drinks' were 'strictly limited'.

What's more, Jeremy alleged that a "combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled or encouraged" which "contributed to inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the cast."

Jeremy's lawsuit also took issue with the amount the cast were paid.

They were paid $1,000 a week for the length of production. While this might sound reasonable, when you factor in the hours that the cast was working, it sets their pay below minimum wage.

The lawsuit claims: "Resultantly, these workers were effectively [paid] as little $7.14 per hour which is less than half of the applicable minimum wage rate of $15.00 per hour, less than one-third of the minimum overtime rate of $22.50 per hour, and less than one-fourth of the minimum double-time rate of $30.00 per hour pursuant to the applicable Los Angeles City and County minimum wage ordinances."

UNILAD has gone to Netflix and Kinetic Content, the show's production company, for comment.

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