The real drama on the TV series “The Following” and “The Blacklist” was behind the scenes, claim two staffers who say they were forced to work 24-hour shifts without breaks and even had to urinate in bottles in their cars.
Corey Leach, 30, of Long Island, and Anthony Jacob, 37, of Brooklyn, say they were illegally underpaid by production companies including Warner Brothers, NBC and Sony while working as show parking production assistants.
The men received no overtime pay despite working up to 90 hours a week between November 2012 and October 2014, they claim in a new Manhattan federal lawsuit.
At “The Following” — which ran between 2013 and 2015 and starred Kevin Bacon — Leach and Jacob received a flat rate of $150 for a 12-hour shift, they say. At “The Blacklist” — a still-running crime drama starring Elizabeth Keen and James Spader — they were paid $160 per day, the men allege.
Parking production assistants arrive 24 hours before shooting begins at a location, closing off city streets and ensuring the area is clear of traffic and passers-by.
With no access to the productions’ restrooms, Leach and Jacob “would have little containers, bottles” to urinate into in their cars, said lawyer James Vagnini.
The production companies also falsified the men’s paychecks to say they worked fewer hours than they did to get around overtime rules, according to the court papers filed on Sept. 11 in the Manhattan federal court.
The plaintiffs are suing for back pay, plus interest.
Leach launched a similar case in 2011 after working as a parking production assistant on the sets of “Lipstick Jungle,” “Friends with Benefits” and “I Don’t Know How She Does It,” and settled out of court in 2012.