RALEIGH – LeAnn Cain ‘26 has won third place in the Dr. Emanuel Stein and Kenneth D. Stein Memorial national legal writing competition, according to the New York State Bar Association, which sponsored the contest.
In addition to winning $1,000 in cash, Cain will have her article, “Reality TV Participants are Employees: A Proposed Solution to Legal Claims Against Production Companies,” published in a future issue of the Labor and Employment Law Section newsletter. She will also receive a complimentary one-year membership in the section. The contest was open to any law student interested in writing about a current issue involving labor or employment law.
Cain’s article introduction follows:
“The birth of reality TV was a direct result of production companies and networks not wanting to pay unionized workers in television programs after the entertainment labor strikes in the 1980s and 2000s. Reality producers are specifically looking for fresh faces to cast on shows then labeling them as independent contractors within the ‘participation agreement.’ Newbies in this television genre are not familiar with the inner workings of production so they generally do not question any of the contract provisions. Additionally, classifying the participants as independent contractors allows for production to bypass federal employment and labor laws even though their work satisfies the employment test.
“The current article will analyze the historical context of what brought reality TV into mainstream society. Next, the participation agreement/contract will be examined to lay a foundation on what they entail and what they mean for the individuals who sign it. Further, lawsuits against production companies provide a framework on how to structure the proposed solution. Moreover, this article concludes by proposing filing a class action lawsuit against a reality TV production company to create legal precedent. The goal would be for it to become new common law specifying reality TV participants need to be classified as employees.”
Dr. Emanuel Stein had a national reputation as an outstanding labor arbitrator for more than 40 years, and was a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, while his son, Kenneth Stein, was an outstanding labor and employment lawyer in his own right until his untimely passing at the age of 65 in 2009, according to the contest’s website.
Cain earned her Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from the University of North Carolina in 2020 and her bachelor’s degree in psychology and social work from Western Carolina University in 2018. She spent her 1L summer as an extern in Campbell University’s Office of General Counsel.
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