Unions Are Now Investigating Whether Lindsay Lohan Was Overworked

The Screen Actor's Guild, now SAG-AFTRA after the merger, is an odd union. It doesn't really help its members to get work, it only offers benefits once you hit a certain pay scale, and even when productions are out there breaking union rules, it usually doesn't fix them.

That last point isn't necessarily the fault of the union, though: often, if a production works long, irregular hours, nobody working on the production will complain to the union for fear of being blacklisted within the industry. Hollywood is a surprisingly small town, and word travels fast.

But when Lindsay Lohan is found unconscious from exhaustion in her hotel room, and two days later two more crew members are diagnosed with dehydration and exhaustion as well, people take notice... even the unions. SAG-AFTRA is now investigating the production of "Liz & Dick" following the hospitalization of the crew members and the call to paramedics over Lohan's health.

If Lohan's Twitter is to be trusted (and why wouldn't it?), "Liz & Dick" kept its cast and crew working for "85 hours in 4 days." Deadline corroborates that estimate, reporting that crew members were working 20-hour days before the incidents occurred.

Long hours like this can cause more than just tired crew members and exhausted starlets: as THR notes, long shoots can be fatal for crew members who have to drive themselves home, as they increase the potential to fall asleep at the wheel.

At the very least, SAG-AFTRA guidelines often require a 12-hour turnaround between shooting days, meaning that consecutive 20-hour work days would be impossible without breaking the rules. A producer for "Liz & Dick" claims that the production is "in total compliance" with the union's regulations.