A contestant on the second season of Netflix’s “Love Is Blind” reality series is suing the streamer and the show’s producers, charging them with a string of labor-law violations, including fostering “inhumane working conditions” and paying cast members less than minimum wage.

The lawsuit, filed by Jeremy Hartwell, alleges “Love Is Blind” producers plied the cast with alcohol and deprived them of food and water — while paying rates that were below Los Angeles County’s minimum wage. The suit, filed in California Superior Court in L.A., names as defendants Netflix, production company Kinetic Content and Kinetic’s casting company Delirium TV.

“Mr. Hartwell’s involvement in Season 2 of ‘Love is Blind’ lasted less than one week. Unfortunately, for Mr. Hartwell, his journey ended early after he failed to develop a significant connection with any other participant,” Kinetic said in a statement to Variety. “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.”

Hartwell, who is director at a mortgage company in Chicago, claims he spent several days recovering from the effects of sleep deprivation, lack of access to food and water and copious amounts of alcohol that he was provided. “Love Is Blind” Season 2 premiered on Netflix in February 2022.

According to the lawsuit, “Love Is Blind” contestants should have been classified under California state law as employees rather than independent contractors because producers dictated the timing, manner and means of their work. During the production, producers paid contestants a flat rate of $1,000 per week — despite forcing them to work up to 20 hours per day, seven days per week. That works out to as little as $7.14 per hour, well under the minimum wage in Los Angeles County of at least $15 per hour, according to the complaint.

Producers of 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,” said attorney Chantal Payton of Payton Employment Law, the L.A.-based firm that is representing Hartwell.

Hartwell’s suit seeks class-action status on behalf of all participants in “Love Is Blind” and other non-scripted productions created by the defendants over the past four years. Payton Employment Law estimates the potential size of the plaintiff class to number more than 100 individuals.