Hollywood lawsuit alleges reality TV sweatshop conditions
Last Updated: Friday, July 8, 2005 | 11:24 AM ET
CBC Arts
The suit, filed Thursday, accuses the companies of violating labour laws with writers working 80-hour weeks without overtime pay, breaks or meal periods required by California law.
The writers are demanding unpaid wages and overtime, civil penalties and punitive damages.
"What we're responding to is conditions that outrage the conscience," said Daniel Petrie Jr., head of the western chapter of the Writers Guild of America, which helped the writers file the lawsuit.
Petrie warned the guild would be prepared to file more suits if the producers don't agree to talks.
The guild sent letters last month to reality TV production companies demanding they provide benefits and union wages to their writers.
Reality shows hire writers to help shape story lines. Writers are required to comb through hundreds of hours of footage to shape stories from beginning to end.
The lawsuit, which seeks certification as a class action, was filed on behalf of 12 writers against several companies and networks including:
- Telepictures Productions, which produces The Bachelor
- Syndicated Productions, which produces Are You Hot?
- Dawn Syndicated Productions, which produces The Real Gilligan's Island
- ABC, CBS, Warner Brothers and Turner Broadcasting System
The lawsuit alleges the productions followed almost identical practices such as requiring writers to submit falsified time cards that didn't reflect the actual hours they worked.
The production companies or networks have refused to comment on the issue.
