A Lawsuit In A Galaxy Not Far Away with Andrew Torrez

Speaker 1: 0:01

Tonight, marvel casts Fantastic, dc changes dates, discovery sets its date, plus, legal expert Andrew Torres and I break down the Gina Carano lawsuit. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse tonight. Comic books, sci-fi, fantasy and more. If you're looking for a roundup of geeky news, you're in the right place. This is Multiverse tonight, and here's our host, thomas Townley. Well, hello everyone and welcome to episode 209 of Multiverse tonight. Of course, you're a fiddled host, thomas Townley. And well, it seems to be spring bordering on summer outside right now. It's currently in the 70s outside, so I don't have a lot to start out here. Nothing really big has been happening. I'm still staying home, not going to Comic-Con this year, but I do have a treat for you on today's episode Lawyer Andrew Torres of a specific podcast, which I'm not going to mention here because there's been an issue, but a well-known legal analyst, Andrew Torres, will be on the show to discuss the Gina Carano lawsuit that was filed back at the beginning of February, and that'll be a relatively lengthy discussion. So let's just get on with the Marvel news, and we begin Marvel news with the Marvel Studios finally confirming the cast of its upcoming Fantastic Four movie. A piece of Valentine's Day themed art released on Marvel Studios social media accounts confirmed that Pedro Pascal will play Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby will play Susan Storm, aka Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn will play Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch, and Ebon Mest Backrack will be playing Ben Graham aka the Thing. The artwork was done by Wesley Burt and the new logo was in the style reminiscent of the 1960s, the decade in which the Fantastic Four first appeared on comic book stands, and this led to some speculation that suggests that the movie might be a period piece set back in the 60s, or at least include some scenes from that time, though no plot details for the film have yet to be officially released. Matt Shackman is directing the movie, which is still slated for theaters on July 25, 2025. Whether it be Skrulls, Symbiots or Vampires, when Earth is being invaded, there's one hero you can count on to be on the front lines Wolverine. When the undead rise, the Eternal Night falls in Jed McKay and Pepe Lazarus' blood hunt, Wolverine will confront them claws first. The Four Issues series will mark the Marvel Comics debut of writer Tom Waltz, known for his acclaimed run on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Last Ronin, and will be joined by artist Juan Jose Rape, who has been already delivered a berserkers raid of Wolverine action in the character's current solo series. In addition to spinning directly out of blood hunt, Wolverine's blood-soaked battles will also conclude Logan's private war against the Vampire Nation, a storyline that's been hanging up over the past few pages of the epic Wolverine run. Now Logan will fight back against the Darkness and will be fighting the Vampires as the sky darkens across the globe in Vampire's reign. What's the hidden plot to put Logan directly in the crosshairs? Hence, it's nothing you've seen in Blood Hunt yet, but there is a plot, and blood-thickening, as a secret Vampire sect is exacting revenge on Logan and the world which will take him to the brink. Now this will guest star, some surprise characters from Wolverine's past and the return of Louise of the Nightguard. So Wolverine Blood Hunt coming to a store near you Also coming, is Morbius living Vampire? When Vampire legions unite and usher in the new Eternal Night, morbius' unique, self-inflicted bloodlust may hold the key to reversing it or strengthening it. Spider-man will be tasked to find his iconic Vampiric villain in Amazing Spider-Man Blood Hunt. In a new tie-in spanning Alph Judd McKay and Pepe Lazare's Blood Hunt crossover event written by Justina Ireland and Dran Marcella Ferrara, spider-man Blood Hunt will see Spidey team up with Misty Knight and the lizard to rescue Morbius, who's already fallen into the Vampire or Lord's Clutches Now. Ireland did share that she thinks getting to write Morbius has been a lot of fun and that he's always been a delightful foil to Spider-Man. So get ready to see that on your store shelves as well. Also, what would be without Wolverine and Deadpool getting back together? Not only are they coming up in the Deadpool and Wolverine movie, but they'll also be teaming back up in a new comic book together. Marvel Studios, marvel Comics, announced that a new series will follow Deadpool and Wolverine on some wild adventures. You can read the description of Deadpool and Wolverine World War III quote the most intensely mismatched team up in compomics and pop culture, the best there is and the merc with the mouth, undergo a radical change in an all-new three-part, globe-spanning saga for the ages in Deadpool and Wolverine, world War III, number one, which will be on stands this May. Acclaimed writer Joe Kelly marks his return to Deadpool in a new series alongside legendary artist Adam Kubert. The mysterious Delta believes in change. Change is good, but has he set to sights on Deadpool and Wolverine is caught up in the plot. Is the third time really the charm or the curse? Get ready for World War III to erupt in the scene with the wildest-do-on comics from legends Joe Kelly and Adam Kubert unquote. Now let's go on to the DC Comics News, and DC Comics News begins with DC Comics moving its release schedule back to Wednesdays. This past week is part of a presentation at the Comics Pro Comic Industry Conference. Dc announced plans to move back to Wednesday, starting Wednesday July 3rd, and this will only affect single issues. New collected editions and graphic novels will still be released on Tuesdays. Dc initially pivoted to Tuesday from the industry standard of Wednesday back in 2020 amid supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. That initial decision also came amid the company's distribution move from Diamond Comics to Penguin Random House, with other publishers like Marvel and IDW soon following suit, also announced at Comics Pro this summer will bring the launch of Absolute Power, a new event. Mini-series shepherded by Mark Wade and artist Dan Mora, who partnered together on DC series such as Batman, superman, world's Finest and Shazam, absolute Power shows how Amanda Waller will use the strategic and military might of failsafe and the otherworldly technology of the brain-at-queen to steal all of the human abilities from every superhero and supervillain around the globe. A threat, so dire, that will take the combined efforts of Batman, superman, wonder Woman and the superheroes of the DC universe to defeat it. Absolute Power will kick off with DC's Free Comic Book Day issue, which will be available at comic book stores on Saturday March 4th 2024. Absolute Power Free Comic Book Day's special edition will be a 32-page comic featuring a original 12-page story by Wade with art by Mikkel Jenin, as well as a preview of Absolute Power's first issue. It will be followed by Absolute Power Ground Zero, the official prelude, which will debut in June, and the shocking conclusion of the Superman story House of Braniac, with Amanda Waller's Mestinations. Now this next one, really interesting Hell seems to have frozen over. Marvel and DC are having a brief moment of cooperation and are releasing two collections of their co-produced comic books. First, dc vs Marvel Omnibus and second, dc Marvel, the Alchem Age Omnibus, which will both be out on August 6, 2024. First off, dc Marvel Comics Omnibus will collect Batman, captain America no 1,. Batman Daredevil no 1, batman Punisher, lake of Fire. Batman, spider-man, daredevil, batman, dc Special Series no 27,. Dark Side vs Galactus, the Hunger no 1, green Lantern, silver Surfer and the Holy Lines, incredible Hulk vs Spider-Man and Marvel and DC Present featuring the Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans. Marvel Treasury Edition no 28, punisher. Batman, deadly Knights no 1, silver Surfer. Superman, spider-man, batman, superman vs the Phantom has amazing Spider-Man and Superman, fantastic Four. The DC Marvel the Amalgam Age Omnibus will collect DC vs Marvel no 1-4,. Dc Marvel All Access 1-4, ultimate Access 1-4,. Bat Thing no 1,. Bruce Wayne, agent of Shield no 1,. Bolts and Braceless no 1,. Challenges with Fantastic no 1,. Doctor Strange, fate no 1,. Iron Lantern no 1,. Legends of the Dark Knight these are all no 1s. Of course. Lobo the Duck, speed Demon, spider-boy, super Soldier, thorian of the New Asgods, x Patrol and more plus a treasure trove of behind the scenes material. Dc Marvel the Amalgam Age Omnibus will feature stories first told back in 1996, when the two universes fused together to create the Amalgam Universe. Oh, what a time that was, folks. The result was a series of unforgettable one-shot comic books, starting the likes of Dark Claw, batman, wolverine, super Soldier, super man, captain America, iron Lantern, iron man and Green Lantern and many more. And these comics came from creators such as Peter David, dan Juergens, mark Wade, dave Gibbons, ron Mars, jose Lopez, garcia Lopez, gary Frank, bill Sinkwitz, claudio Castellani and much more. There was one of the most epic times in comic books. I went to the comic book store. You know I was foaming at the mouth for those. That was a fun time to be a comic book fan Again. These will both come out on August 6th and the two volumes will have a direct market exclusive cover available only to comic book shops while supplies last. And now let's go to the Star Trek news. Star Trek news begins with Paramount Plus announcing the return of Star Trek Discovery for its fifth and final season. The show will premiere on Thursday, april 4th on Paramount Plus in the US and UK, switzerland, south Korea, latin America, germany, france, italy, australia and Austria. Star Trek Discovery season 5 will also premiere on April 4th on Paramount Plus in Canada. The Star Trek Discovery season 5 will see the first two episodes of the series' final 10th episode season, released at launch, with new episodes following every Thursday. Here's the official synopsis from Paramount Plus. The fifth and final season will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well, dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it. Now the episode titles have been revealed, so take what you will from the titles. They are Red Directive Under the Twin Moons, janal Face, the Strange Mirrors, whistle Speak, iraya Labyrinths, lagrange Point and Life Itself. So again, I haven't been a fan of Star Trek Discovery, but good for them to go out while they are pretty much at a high point. Anyway, star Trek's LGBTQIA Plus characters will be getting the spotlight in Star Trek Celebrations no 1, a one-shot comic book from IDW arriving ahead of Pride Month 2024. The anthology comic will feature new stories starring characters like Star Trek, picard's 7 of 9 and Rafi Strange, new World's Christine Chappell, discovery's Hugh Calber, paul Stamets, rogeria Tall and Grey Tall, and Star Trek loredecks, beckett Mariner and Jennifer Shorrain, and the Kelvin timelines Haiku Rassoulu. These stories will be written by Vyda Aleo, steve Olor, orlando, max Vizio and others and will hit store shelves on May 29th. Idw's Star Trek group. Heather Antos said quote what is Star Trek if not the idea of celebrating the best of us, right, the best of humanity, and coming together? There's a really great quote from Gene Ronberry. That's the future he wants to see, a future where all of not just tolerating one another but celebrating one another. That is the intention behind Celebrations and where we get the title from it's wanting to celebrate the badasses of the Star Trek universe, where that's Calbern Stamets, where that's Mariner, where that's 7 and Rafi. There are so many characters that we're going to see explored here by some incredible, incredible writers. Also coming is an upcoming Strange New Worlds novel, which will finally reveal Captain Christopher Pike's history with his number one, una Chin. Riley Gallery Books has revealed Star Trek Strange New Worlds by Una McCormick, the veteran Star Trek writer for whom Una was named. The novel will dig into the history between the two Starfleet officers that Strange New Worlds has alluded to, which goes back 25 years to that speech Pike gave at Starfleet Academy that left such an impression on Cadet Chin Riley. Strange New Worlds asylum's title may also refer to the legal status of the Federation granted Una in Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 2, which allowed her to continue with her Starfleet career even though she revealed that she was a genetically modified Ilarian. Strange New Worlds asylum jumps the time period set 25 years apart, and here is the book Synopsis a new Star Trek adventure based on the thrilling Paramount Plus TV series Star Trek Strange New Worlds. When Una Chin Riley and Christopher Pike meet at Starfleet Academy after one of his lectures, they immediately become friends. A stellar student, una, is the poster girl of her class and Pike is determined to make her a Starfleet captain with his own ship, rhetorically assembling his dream crew. As the friendship evolves, pike also suspects Chin Riley of being involved in Exhuana, a Cheo Yen cultural minority who are seeking asylum in the Federation space, linked to more questions than answers. 25 years later, una and Pike are working together on the US surprise to settle a Cheo Yen trade agreement when a pro Exhuana sub-tour launches a terrorist attack. When the suspect is taken into custody for interrogation, as discovered to have in history with Una, her past associations resurface, threatening to expose a secret she's been harboring all these years Now. Star Trek Strange New Worlds Asylum is the second novel based on Strange New Worlds, following 2023's Star Trek Strange New Worlds, the High Country by John Jackson Miller. Star Trek Strange New Worlds Asylum goes on sale on September 24th. Now let's go on to the Star Wars news and we'll begin Star Trek Strange New Worlds with the Star Wars tabletop game, star Wars Shatterpoint, which is adding characters from several popular Star Trek shows in the coming months. Atomic Mask Games officially announced a trio of new squad packs bringing in several popular characters from the Mandalorian and the Bad Batch. The Serfai Guild Squad Pack comes with the Mandalorian as a primary unit, grief Karga as a secondary unit and IG-11 as a supporting unit. The you Must have you have Something I Want Squad Pack as Moff Gideon as a primary unit, a Death Trooper escort as a secondary unit and a pair of Dark Troopers as a supporting unit. Finally, the Clone Force 99 Squad Pack adds the Bad Batch to the game, with Clone Sergeant Hunter as a primary unit and Playbill in both Clone and Galactic Civil War era squads. Wrecker and Omega as a secondary unit, echo and Tech as supporting units and Crosshair as a Clone Wars era secondary unit. Now let's go on to the interview with Mr Andrew Torres Esquire. Now it's time to get some legal perspective on the show. On February 6th, actress Gina Carano filed a lawsuit in the California US District Court with one of the goofiest opening lines I've ever heard. Quote A short time in the galaxy, not so far away. Defendants make clear that only one orthodoxy in thought, speech or action was acceptable. Now clear that was acceptable in their empire, and that those who dared to question or failed to fully comply would not be tolerated. And so was with Carano and goes on from there. I won't do the whole thing. It's kind of lengthy, but in order to make sense of this, I've reached out to one of the finest legal minds and a fellow podcaster. Welcome, andrew Torres.

Speaker 2: 19:12

Well, Thomas, thank you so much for having me on the show.

Speaker 1: 19:16

It's a pleasure. I mean, I've listened to you for years on the internet and I think I value your opinion. Thank you, I really do.

Speaker 2: 19:25

Well, I appreciate that, so let's break this down. This is the worst infringement of the free speech and the First Amendment ever, or possibly. This is a right-wing crazy person saying crazy things, so we'll get to the bottom.

Speaker 1: 19:45

Tomato-tomato.

Speaker 2: 19:47

Yeah, anyway, what can you tell us about the suit to begin with, Sure, and let me give kind of the classic disclaimer first, right, I'm a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer, so none of this constitutes legal advice. Also, I am not. I advise small businesses. That's my day job, so I am familiar with labor law, but I am not a California labor attorney, right. And so one of the things that I think that's really, really important to know at the outset is that I am going to assume and I'm probably giving Gina Carano the benefit of the doubt here that there are no defects, no procedural defects, in this lawsuit there. Very well could be. So, for example, right, like when you want to allege workplace discrimination, you first have to notify the California Labor and Workplace Development Agency, right, and you have to. It's called exhaust your administrative remedies, right, and basically the law says look, before you can come into court, you have to do what you can through the administrative process, right, first with your employer and then with your state labor agency to try and get your job back, and if all of that fails, then you can bring a lawsuit. I don't know whether she's complied with that. I'm going to assume that she has right. So let's imagine that this is a meritorious lawsuit. If that's the case. Right, imagine what we do. As always, you read the complaint backwards, right, so you start at the very bottom. She has a perfectly respectable plaintiff's labor firm representing her. I have some questions about that, but you know this is not, you know, trump's lawyer, alina Habba. These are not crazy people, right, because this is a real law firm that represents real individuals who've been aggrieved in the workplace.

Speaker 1: 21:50

Yeah, I would hope that her lawyers aren't crazy. Of course they are paid for by Elon Musk.

Speaker 2: 21:59

And you know folks have talked about that. It is, I think, beyond the scope of the show, but really, really troublesome that you have the richest man in the country essentially soliciting and trying to sue media outlets into oblivion. Look, it's not going to work with Disney, right? But you know, hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker brought down Gawker right. I have long said that the major structural defect in our civil judicial system is rich corporations, rich people suing each other and clogging up the diner, and virtually every ill that we have today in the legal system I think can be traced back to that. So yeah, the fact that Musk is bankrolling solicited promoting this lawsuit, that should be problematic, kind of no matter what right and yeah, I'll go ahead. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1: 23:08

And this was three years after it happened. So do you think Elon Musk's doing was kind of the catalyst for this? I did very clearly.

Speaker 2: 23:16

I mean it seems to me right I suppose it could be coincidental. I should have your really perceptive to bring out that time lapse, because there could be statute of limitations issues here as well and again kind of file that all under. There are lots of reasons why this might not get out the door. But assuming that it gets out the door, okay, toronto is alleging three counts in her complaint, right, so you kind of move back from the signature to counts one, two and three. Counts one and two I'm going to get to in a minute. Those are allegations of violations of section 1101 of the California Labor Code. That is wrongful discharge, that she was fired for political reason and that they refused to hire her back for a political reason. And we'll get to kind of the, the gravament of those claims. Count three is ridiculous. I mean. Count three alleges sex discrimination and essentially the argument is Disney was perfectly happy to let its male stars engage in political activity, but they didn't let her engage in political activity. You know, I mean it's sort of almost not worth debunking. I mean, you know she's she's pointed to, you know Mark Hamill, you know sort of well-known tweets out on various progressive causes, that sort of thing and and all of it kind of falls under the you know, you fired me because you're woke and I'm not. We're right, right. And this, I think, hits at the major misconception that that Elon Musk is putting out again. Musk has said this, karana has said that, her side has said this and really, really good lawyers have kind of run with it because you need to parse it very, very, very carefully. But but it's wrong. And that claim is that political affiliation is a protected class in California. Yes, that's not true. It is flatly false. I'm going to talk about the way in which political activity is protected, but it is a much narrower subset. It matters not not just to a lawyer, you know. I mean, I love getting in the weeds on all of the stuff, but but it really really matters, because when something is a protected class, that is, the federal government sort of sets the baseline right of, you know, race, sex and sexual orientation and gender identity and religion, and then states can build on top of that and add additional characteristics that it thinks that it is prima facie wrong for the state to discriminate against you on the basis of these characteristics, and usually they're what they're what we call in the law immutable characteristics, right? So, yeah, the age discriminate. I can't do anything about how old I am. You know, your ancestry, your, your race, those you know can't do anything about that. And so California has a very robust civil rights law. It's called the UNRWA Act after Jesse UNRWA, and it is section 51 of the California Code, and it has 17 protected classes. So age, ancestry, gender, gender expression, gender identity, marital status, medical condition, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran, military status and a couple of others, right, and so that that expands federal law. And it says if you take, undertake any activity on the basis of a protected class, then that is per se prohibited under the law. Here's what it says, right, it says all persons within the state are free and equal, no matter what they're, and then lists off those 17 characteristics and are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. Okay, so in other words, if you're a member of a protected class, then you must be treated equally, regardless of that specific identity, everywhere, throughout the state, in all private business transactions, right? So you know, a restaurant can't say get out of here with your MAGA hat on right. And you could imagine, you know kind of the fullest extent of that. The case I use to to illustrate this, that is somewhat infamous in California, 1985 California Supreme Court case called choir K O I R E versus Metro Car Wash. And it's this guy who in 1979 was a troll and what he would do is he would go around to bars and nightclubs and for some reason, car washes in California. It was the 70s, you know, it is a different time, right, that had ladies nights, right, and so apparently ladies night or ladies day at the car wash was affected. And so I am not kidding there was a nightclub that had a $2 cover charge and they waived it for women on a particular night. And he said, well, when are the men going to get waived? And the nightclub was like this is a nightclub man, like we don't need to try hard to bring in men, and right. And he sued and the trial court was like, oh, come on, get out of here with this. And the appellate court was like, no, no, really, get out of here with this. And the California Supreme Court reversed and they said, notwithstanding the fact that we don't think there's a real injury here and notwithstanding the fact that you're obviously a troll. And notwithstanding the fact that the statute wasn't designed to protect men, right, the UNRWA Act says gender is a protected class, and so we think that means you can't treat anybody differently, at the minimal level of knocking $2 off the cover charge. So ladies nights have been illegal in California for almost 40 years. Right, that's the background that Gina Carano and her lawyers and her backers would have you believe applies to political class in California. It does not. It's not, not. You read this statute, just not in there. And so you don't get that broad protection, right, what you get is a much narrower protection, and that's the basis for the first two counts in the lawsuit. It is section 1101 of the California Labor Code, and I'm going to read it in its entirety. It's just pretty short. It says no employer shall make, adopt or enforce any rule, regulation or policy a forbidding or preventing employees from engaging or participating in politics or from becoming candidates for public office that clearly is not even alleged here or be controlling or directing or tending to control or direct the political activities or affiliations of employees. And you might think kind of on its face. Well, okay, that's where Gina Carano is trying to cram this, you know, round peg into the square hole of that 1101 B, right? Because I mean, let's talk about the fact, right? Like, as far as I can tell, gina Carano tweeted out, quote most people today don't realize that, to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?

Speaker 1: 31:38

Okay, yeah, it's Kevin Apples and Orange's type of deal.

Speaker 2: 31:45

Yeah, that's right. Right, and look, you can put that together with, right after she was dropped by Disney. Right, gina Carano went on to, you know, have a pretty major role in the propaganda pick my son, hunter, right, which is, you know, just just nonsense. Right, like she clearly has, you know, wandered into Magaland and been embraced with with open arms, but, but, but again, right, there is no question. Right, you want to try and steal about the other side, right, like there is no question that there is a political cast to the things that she said. Right, she's right, you know she was anti-masking and I don't know if she was anti-vax. You know, she's expressed that. You know, maybe there was fraud in the 2020 election. I mean, you know, right, she's associated with these dingbat maggot positions, right, and the question is suppose Disney fired her because they said, look, we're a woke company and we don't want our place going around comparing being a supporter of Donald Trump to being rounded up by the Nazis and, you know, saying that. You know the 2020 election was stolen and stuff like that. Now, mind you, I think Disney has much stronger grounds to say, like, look like what we were doing was we terminated our relationship with somebody who was grotesquely insensitive to a historically discriminated against group of people. But for purposes of emotion, to dismiss. You have to treat the plaintiff's allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff right. Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 1: 33:43

Now, now I can attest being I work for a corporation myself begins with W and some art. You can fill in it, fill in the between there, and they have a social media policy that I have to follow. Basically, I can't release trade secrets. I can't really disparage the company too much. You know there's, there's a whole, and there's also a morality, morality policy as well that says you know what I, you know I can't go out and rob a bank and expect to come into work, things like that. Right, I assume Disney has has kind of the same type of policies. I am.

Speaker 2: 34:24

I am sure that their contract with Gina Carano has some of those provisions and again, I would sort of put those, all of those questions, into that kind of first bucket that we talked about. Right Like, there may be lots of reasons that this, you know, doesn't get out the door, but if it does, I'm kind of trying to give her factually the maximum benefit of the doubt because, to be fair, that's what the legal system will and should do. Right, like, if you factually disagree over something, right. If Gina Carano says, look, disney fired me because I'm a conservative, and Disney says we didn't fire you because you're conservative, we fired you because you're a jerk, right, well, then then, and that's it, right. So you would want that to be able, potentially, to go to a jury or at least to go to discovery to say like, hey, look, are there communications between Bob Iger and you know whatever. That says look, you know, we got, we got too many of these mega idiots working for us. Let's, you know, let's, get rid of Carano. If that's, if that's Disney's sole defense is no, we didn't fire you because of your political beliefs, we fired you for these other reasons, then you have to adjudicate whether that that's true or not. I'm saying let's assume that that is the case, let's assume they won't. Let's assume Disney comes out and says yeah, yeah, we, we fired you because you said not because you're conservative, but because the things that you ascribe to a conservative ideology are patently offensive and inconsistent with how Disney wants to do business. And the question is is that good enough? Right? And so that's why I kind of went through that lengthy discussion on not being a protected class. Because, look, if, if, if political affiliation were protected class in California, that would not be good enough, right, you? You couldn't say you would say look, you're treating Democrats and Republicans unequally. Right, and just because Republicans are more likely to say stupid that you disagree with and and so, but, but that's, but that's still prohibited. Right, like that's, that's the car wash exam. I don't care what your reasons are. Right, like there, there are very good economic reasons for a nightclub to want to waive the cover charge for women coming in and not for men coming in. But you can't do it because it's a protected class. Yeah, because political affiliation is not a protected class. You then have to ask what is political activity and what does it mean to try and control it. And so again, if I'm still botting the the Gina Carano side, she would say look, your employers contract with you that says don't embarrass them, don't engage in activity that brings them into disrepute. You know, be pleasant, right, that's fine, because that's not that. That doesn't treat political affiliation differently. But Disney has shown over and over again that when it's stars support progressive causes, that it's behind them, and when it's called, when it stars oppose progressive causes, that they fire them, and and and so then the question is OK, assume that's right. Is that rise to the level of trying to control your employees political activity? And I've read I can't say every 1101 case in California. There are a lot, but at the appellate, I've read a lot of these cases because I've gone looking for something comparable and I can't find one right. What I find are a lot of cases that say, hey, you, you didn't show up for work because you went to an Obama rally and therefore we're firing you. And and again, right, that's an area where, even if it's not on the basis of ideology, right, like it would be equally bad if they said no, no, no, you, you can't go to mega rallies in your, you know, in your free time or you can't take off from work to go to mega rallies that that would be an employer trying to dictate the political activity of its employees. Obviously, there's zero evidence that they ever tried to do that with Gina Carona, right? They never said, hey, you can't be on Twitter. They never said you can't support Donald Trump. They never said you can't go to a Trump rally. They never said you can't vote for Trump. You can't right, like all of the things that that classically constitute political activity voting, running for office, attending rallies, organizing there was nothing right. Then the question is is saying you hate me for my politics? How is that any different than the Nazis rounding up the Jews right? Is that? Because it certainly has a political overtoned to it? Is that sufficient to constitute interference with political activity? And, and again, as far as I can tell from the case law, a no, it isn't. But. But b even if it were the? The other important difference between a protected class and an 1101 claim is the burden shifts right. If you're in a protected class, your burden is to demonstrate that you're a member of that class and that your, your employer, made a decision that has a disparate impact. There are other forms of speaking broadly, right, but that your, your employer, made a decision that affected you differently because of your memory, on the basis of that membership in the class. And then the employer, the burden shifts to the employer to offer a justification not based on your membership in the class. And then the burden, if they do, and they'll always say, like well, you know, it was performance or whatever. And then the burden shifts back to the individual to say that that justification was pretextual. And when you were talking about a protected class, distinctions on the basis of that class are strongly disfavored, right? So you know, we only hire women to do these kinds of jobs, right? I like it's very, very difficult for that sort of policy to survive. Right, in an 1101 claim, it is the employee's burden to show that the employer had the intent to discriminate on the basis of political affiliation or activity, right. And so if the employer has and this is the language from every case a legitimate non-political justification, the case goes away. That's the end of the 1101 inquiry. They must have an expressly political motive, right. If they have a business motive, that's not political retaliation. And so it strikes me as kind of beyond obvious that Disney is going to say look these facts as alleged, do not add up to an allegation that we acted with political motive. Here are all the conservative stars. You know we've had James Woods come through here. We've had right, like you know, john Voight right, and we didn't do anything against them. They're well-known. They can be conservative, they can be outspoken, they can have whatever views they want, so long as their views do not bring Disney into disrepute by suggesting something as idiotic as being a supporter of Donald Trump, as like being rounded up at the Holocaust in 1939, germany right. Like and I have a hard time seeing you know that this case is going anywhere.

Speaker 1: 42:44

Yeah, and you know it has been kind of noticeable that Disney hasn't Disney has yet to respond to this. Is that anything you know we should be giving credence to here?

Speaker 2: 42:58

Oh no, and in fact, I mean, this lawsuit was only filed on February 6th, right? So even against an in-state defendant, you have 30 days before you're required to answer the complaint. Typically, lawyers will ask for and get additional time in order to file like a dispositive motion, like a motion to dismiss. That, I think, is coming. So it should not be. I mean, I know you know it feels like this has been out in the public consciousness forever. It's been 20 days in court time, which is nothing, right, and so you know, no, you shouldn't read anything into the fact that there has been no development. And in fact, on the docket, right, Disney has, you know, noticed the appearance of, you know, two dozen lawyers, because it's a multi-billion dollar, multinational corporation and you know, and it paints me a little bit to be, you know, shilling for you know, huge, huge corporation here. So that's the bottom line, right, it has been an eye-blink in judicial terms. What's coming next is going to be a motion to dismiss. I do not want I just gave the big case against this lawsuit I do not want to say, you know, I would not push my chips all in, it's not 100% that the court is going to grant the motion to dismiss for a couple of reasons. Right, you know one, courts tend although this is federal court state courts are even more favorable in terms of wanting to give a party their day in court. Right, they courts are. You know, if you think you've been aggrieved, part of the judicial process is, so long as you know you're not completely outside the box, okay, state how you were aggrieved and let's let the legal process play out. And so there's a little bit of that there and there is a little bit of the of a subjective question. Right, in federal court, there are a line of cases that are sometimes referred to as twic ball. Right, it is a twombly and ick ball and it basically that sets the minimum bar as to what constitutes and the language is a plausible claim for relief, right? So, in other words, example, I use all the time, right, like if, if you sue me for trespass, right, and you say Andrew came to my house in the middle of the night, scaled my fence and you know, and was on my property, and I say I have never been to the state of oh, I've been once, but like I've never been to Kansas, I've never been anywhere near your house. Right, no-transcript. You've still stated a plausible claim of relief, right, we? We have a factual dispute, but if in fact, I scaled your fence and ran around in your yard and all of that, that that would be trespass. And so if my only defense is ever been to Kansas, then you survive. Quick ball, right, you get to bring your case I moved to dismiss and the court says, well, let's figure out if Torres has been to Kansas or not. And and then you know, maybe we can move quickly, maybe we can't, and discovery is long and expensive, particularly on individual litigants, but that's how, that's how the court will rule that. And so, you know, is no, disney is saying this, but you really fired me because you know I'm I'm conservative. Could you, could you see a judge cobbling that together and saying, taking all facts, as alleged by Gina is true and all inferences resolved in her favor, we think that there's a plausible claim that Disney was trying to Direct her political activities. I can see that. I don't think it's the likely opinion. I think, for the reasons that I stated. But you know, 75, 25, it might go forward. And again, you know, don't, don't cry for them. Argentina, right, like I do to you, to Karano has plenty of money, disney has all the money right, like that. You know they're doing fine, but but, but that would be the implication.

Speaker 1: 47:29

So what we're gonna see next in the next couple of weeks is a motion to dismiss and then briefing on that now, when that when we go to page 57 of the complaint prayer for relief the thing that strikes me about that is she wants to roll back.

Speaker 2: 47:48

Well, that is actually what you get in Employment law cases, by and large, right, like employment law cases, that the remedies are usually restricted to Reinstatement with back pay. Sometimes there are additional Damages that that that come into play, but but typically no, and and if you think about it, that's because these laws were not written with Actors, they were written with, you know I, right, I'm the, I'm the floor manager, right, and you know I, I got fired. I shouldn't have been fired and I want my job back as as the floor manager. You are right, though, that there is often attention in these labor law cases of well, you know you, you've just spent, you know, two years alleging that this, you know hellhole is the worst place on earth to work. Wow, why do you want to go back there? Exactly and and that happens, but you know, but yeah, so I'm not, I'm not surprised by that, but but it. But it does kind of illustrate, if this case ever does go forward on the merits, that Again, disney has these, you know, additional arguments that that a court is is likely to find persuasive in an 1101 context that wouldn't work in A protected class context and again they could just kill.

Speaker 1: 49:20

You know, bring her back and just kill her off in this in the first episode.

Speaker 2: 49:24

Yeah, absolutely. And then she would have to go through the burden of saying no, no, no, you're just doing that to retaliate Against me. And they would say no, no, no. Like you know, here's a script from 2017 that said, we always intended For this character to get, you know, murdered by baby Yoda or whatever, which, admittedly, I would. I would tune in to watch Gina Carano get murdered by baby Yoda.

Speaker 1: 49:47

And finally, I did notice that nowhere in the filing did make an outright freedom of speech argument. Now this is kind of a smart thing to do.

Speaker 2: 49:57

Yes, because, again, remember that the first amendment applies to the activities of government. Right, no to private individuals. That there is a way To allege that a private party has violated your constitutional rights, right, so, in other words, if, if your employer says, you know, no, you know you can't vote, you know if you, if you want to, you know, if you want to work for Chick-fil-A, like you, better not vote in this upcoming election. Right, right, like that. That obviously is is impermissible. The threshold to prove that they tried to control her speech. I, I think you know she sort of wisely. You know, even even as much as the rest of this is a stretch. You know, knew that that that this was not gonna pass muster of. You know you Interfered with my first amendment, rights of expression. You retaliated against me for Speaking as opposed to. You know you acted as an employer. That you know as a public, as a very public-facing business, that that that didn't want to be affiliated with that. The example that I put out a blue sky the other day that I think kind of reasonably separates it out is right. Disneyland is also in California. Right, and if, if, if Disneyland had a policy that said Cast members who wanted to play Ariel, the little mermaid, had to be white. That policy would not last very long, right, no, right, yeah. And you would say and it would Matt Disney could say well, we think Ariel kind of has a particular image of the at the court. Would, would come back with the choir language. They'd be like we don't really care. You know, you can't say only white cast members get to play Ariel. Now I want you to imagine a cast member is selected to play Ariel and decides to put a big red Maga hat on, or or a vote Biden, you know, but bumper a button. No, you would say no, ariel lives under the sea with a crab for election, she doesn't have an opinion on the 2024 presidential election. And I think I mean it is clear. Disney has those regulations that prevent Individual political expression when you are a cast member at Disneyland, and I think that's a good, that's a good illustration here, right, carano falls on the like yeah, you can't play Ariel while you're wearing a maga hat. Sorry, right, like, that's just the way it goes.

Speaker 1: 52:38

Well, andrew, I think we've Gone out, gone over this plenty. Yeah, we've have exhausted Pretty much pretty much all the arguments up to this point. So I would like to you know in the future when, when we get, when we get more of this, maybe invite you back to talk more about this.

Speaker 2: 53:01

Yeah, this is. This has been a lot of fun. I guess, if I, if I were gonna leave you with sort of one anecdote that To me kind of wraps up intuitively, you know how you ought to feel and not to be wagering. I don't know if you recall the case of the Google engineer, james DeMore right, who sent out an Unsolicited memo to everybody at Google that said Google is way too woke and you know is is too committed to DEI and and and they fired him and he sued and and they then he, you know was With drew that lawsuit. It went kind of nowhere. As a result of that, in 2021, california State Senator Melissa Menendez Sorry, california State Senator, melissa Melendez Republican proposed Senate bill 238, which she called the diversity of thought act. It would have amended the unraged and included political affiliation as a protected class. She wanted to deal with what she called quote the climate of intolerance and cancel culture. It was introduced on January 21, 2021, referred to the Judiciary Committee, where it failed nine to two. So it the way to think about that is if it were already illegal to, you know, be too woke in California, you probably wouldn't have needed this piece of legislation. And the fact that that piece of legislation went down in flame Gives you some idea about you. Know what it's like to be an employer in California.

Speaker 1: 54:42

All right, Andrew. Now when can people find you?

Speaker 2: 54:46

Best place to find me right now is on blue sky, for reasons that I think a lot of people know like Twitter is just Toxic and horrible, right, and I don't. I don't want to be supportive. I was very persuaded by by my buddy, liz die, who Also, I mean you know gave up a huge platform on on Twitter to say no, we, even if we're a tiny cog in the machine that is Enabling the platforming of Nazis. I know I don't want to be a part of that anymore and I agree with that. So I'm on blue sky. Andrew Torres and the rew to or are easy and you know, doing, doing my thing, making observations about the law, and Would love to see you there.

Speaker 1: 55:33

All right now back to me in this very same chair and we're back from the interview. I'd like to again thank Andrew Torres, attorney of Law, for being our guest today to talk about the Gina Carano Disney lawsuit and hopefully we'll hear from him again in the not too distant future. Anyway, let's get on and finish up with some geek news, starting off. Harry Potter is set to return to the small screen in 2026. The first installment of the Harry Potter TV series will be targeted to hit Max in 2026. Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav said on the company's fourth quarter earnings call that the series is expected to span seven seasons which will adapt each book in the Fancy Book series. Now on the call, zaslav said he was in London a few weeks ago with HBO and Max content boss Casey Bloys and Channing Dungy, chairperson of Warner Brothers television, to meet with the author JK Rowling about the show. So what do you think about them doing the novels as basically long form? So they're adapting one novel at a time. So instead of a two hour compression, you get the entire novel over a season, like they did with the series of unfortunate events novels over at Netflix. I think that might be a good idea. Turning to other news, academy Award winner Peter Ramsey and former overbook head Caleb Pinkett are set to produce a live action feature adaptation of the Storm Clan, a comic book created by Dells Jackson and Joe Casey, which marks the first title from Jackson's new company DJ Classics Comics. Jackson and Casey will be playing the script, with former Lion's the Exec, george Alfaro, to serve as an executive producer. A sci-fi fantasy action story. The Storm Clan watches as an ex-military weapons engineer trains his five adopted children to be undercover high-tech martial arts thieves wearing invincible bionic body armor. Previously orphaned, the teenagers gifted with bionic tech, see it. Provide them with the opportunity to protect themselves from the threats of the streets, also empowering them to take advantage of life instead of being taken advantage of and, most importantly, giving them comfort and a sense of belonging with a family. In a statement to Deadlinecom quote it's been a dream come true to bring my first comic IP, the Storm Clan, to life with Marvel DC legend Joe Casey. Together we've created a pretty high-tech world that not only combines teen issues with a unique family dynamic, but an IP that organically translates to a film franchise that will appeal to audiences worldwide. Now on some labor news. Some of the only Disneyland Resort workers who are not unionized, announced today that they're organizing with the Actors' Equity Association. Now, ironically, they are among the most public-facing of the resort's employees, calling themselves Magic United. Cast members who work in the Disneyland Resort's characters and parades departments have begun circulating union authorization cards to 1,700 members and will seek volunteer recognition from Disney Resort Entertainment when the majority of the workers have signed. Characters and parades employees are those that roam the park dressed as Mickey Mouse, donald Duck, elsa from Frozen. They bring characters to life in shows, parades, meet and greets and character dining experiences. Hosts, trainers, leads and other roles that support performance are also included in the effort. It's worth noting that cast members who do the same work at Walt Disney World have been unionized for decades. Among the concerns noted in a statement from the union are a safe and sanitary workplace conditions, a fair wage and more transparency in scheduling and rehiring decisions. Now a Disneyland employee, a Disneyland official, signed a statement to deadline. We believe that our cast members deserve to have all the facts and the right to a confidential vote that recognizes their individual choices. In other words, they've been pressing down their thumb to try to get these people not to sign these services trade council union at Walt Disney represents more than 45,000 other Disney employees, reached a contract agreement in March of 2023. The deal grants them that by October 2026, all current employees would expect a minimum wage of 20, 50 an hour and digital hired after December 3rd 2023 would receive $20 per hour. By that time, the Parks and Experiences Unit is the economic driver pretty much since COVID ended. The leaders of Magic United released a statement quote we chose Actors Equity Association as our union because we've seen how well they work with Disney in Florida, on Broadway and on tour. Our Walt Disney World colleagues exemplify how you can be pro-Disney and pro-union at the same time. Furthermore, the vast majority of our park colleagues here in Anaheim already have union representation. It's a win-win. When we can speak with a collective voice, we can have a clear, more productive conversation with our employer. Ultimately, this will result in better experiences for all cast members, managers and, more importantly, our guests. Now let me cover some awards news really quick, starting with the BAFTA Awards, which is a precursor to the Oscars usually and this happened back and which will happen back well, excuse me the Oscars, which will be happening on March 10th. The ceremony had a two-hour delay in the UK and US, and Best Film went to Oppenheimer. Emma Stone won for Ling Actress and Kylian Murphy won for a leading actor for Oppenheimer. Now Oppenheimer won several awards. They've won Director and Original Score and also Best Supporting Actress or Actor for Robert Downey Jr and Poor Things won Special Visual Effects for Simon Hughes. Now I'll have a list of those in the show notes. But let's also cover the Annie Awards. These are for animation. Best Feature went to Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. Best Direction went to the team at Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. Best Direction. Tv went to Paul Young for Star Wars. Visions Awards also went to the Boy and the Heron, moon Girl and Devil, dinosaur, blue-eye, samurai, hilda and a lot, a lot of other shows as well, and we'll have all those for you in the show notes. Now we close out the show with a little sad news, of course. The legendary Paul Neary, known for iconic work at both Marvel and DC, passed away at the age of 74. Neary's friend and colleague, alan Davis, shared the news and a statement that he passed away on February 10th after a long battle with illness and in that same post shared a touching tribute to Neary's incredible work in the industry. Neary was one of the rare talents who could write, ink, color letter and edit, and throughout his career he would create all-time runs on books like Excalibur, batman and the Outsiders, the Authority, ultimates and JLA and the, serving as Marvel UK Editor-in-Chief at two different times. Davis wrote quote Extremely sad news about Paul Nairie a mentor colleague and friend Paul Nairie, born in Bournemouth, england, 18 December 1949, passed away on 10 February 2024, after a long illness. In a career of more than 50 years, paul created international respect and recognition in numerous roles within the comic book industry. Paul could write pencil, ink, color letter and edit skills. He learned from studying the medium with an academic zeal. Comics were an enthusiastic hobby for Paul after he moved to Lades University to study with four degree in metallurgy. But in his first summer break Paul traveled to New York, beloved his way to Jim Warren's office and secured his first professional work on. Eerie Magazine was notably the Hunter series. When Warren publishing was liquidated, paul found work in the UK with Hammer comic movie adaptations, the Doctor who magazine and ghosting Sid Jordan on the Lance McClain newspaper strip. The short, diverse project sued Paul's eclectic and experimental nature and it wasn't enough for full-time employment. Paul eventually accepted an art editorial role at Marvel UK where he met his partner, now wife of over 40 years, bernie Jane. On becoming the editor-in-chief, paul wanted to do more than repackage, reprinting of US comics and start to originate his homegrown strip, most notably reinventing Captain Britain. Paul also had a passion for sci-fi based comics like Mystery in Space and the more eclectic art published in European magazines and albums and was evident by his own creations Madman, tales from the Rim and Wildweed. Paul transitioned from penciling to inking on Batman, the Outsiders, detective Enix. Galliver then returned to the UK as art director for Marvel, where he helmed the creation and evolution of such titles as Dark Angel, motor Mouth, dark Guard, death's Head, knights of Pendragon and the Clandestine. While the list of titles is impressive, paul's best accomplishment was the environment he established to help new creators learn and develop skills that would propel them into success in the US comic market. After Marvel UK filled victim to industry decline, paul resumed inking and finished on such titles as the Authority, ultimate and JLA, where his outstanding work was acknowledged and awarded. Sadly, illness struck. Those luckily to have known Paul will remember him as an intensely private man who had no interest in fame or public acclaim. Paul loved the creative process in fostering the creativity in others. Always professional, enthusiastic and polite, but just below the surface, paul's anarchic sense of humor was poised to mock the mighty and expose the injustices of life, the greatest injustice being he went too soon. Consultants, thoughts and prayers to Bernie". Paul Neary was 74 years old. And finally, tonight, kenneth Mitchell, who played several characters in Star Trek Discovery and also was known for his roles in Jericho and Captain Marvel, has died from complications of ALS Lou Gehrig's disease. His family revealed his past Saturday. He was 49 years old. Quote. With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son and dear friend. His family shared on Twitter Quote. For five and a half years, ken faced a series of awful challenges from ALS and, in truest Ken fashion, he managed to rise above each one with grace and commitment to living a full and joyous life. In every moment, he lived by the principles that each day is a gift and will never walk alone. Now Mitchell announced publicly that he'd been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2020 in an interview with People Magazine. Quote. The moment they told us that was ALS, it was like I was in my own movie. That's what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told they have a terminal illness. It was just complete disbelief, a shock. Now Mitchell played three Klingon characters in Star Trek Discovery's first two seasons. He portrayed Cole in season one, kolsha and Tenevik in season two. In season three, as the disease progressed. He played Aurelio, a character who used a hover chair. Great to incorporate his need for a wheelchair into the series. He also voiced three characters in the first season of Star Trek, lord Deck. Season one one has a black ops operative and a rhyming guard. Star Trekcom paid tribute to Mitchell. Being a part of Star Trek keeps me inspired and gives me purpose. Mitchell told sci-fi wire in 2020. Hopefully they will keep going. Mitchell was also known for his role as Eric Green in CBS's Jericho. On the film side, he portrayed Joseph Danvers in 2019's Captain Marvel, the father of Carol Danvers, who appeared in Flashback with the young Carol, and, early in his career, as Ralph Cox in the biopic Miracle in 2004. He also had additional television credits, including the Astronaut's Wives Club, switch to Birth and Guest Spots in Code Black, csi, cyber and NCIS, among others. Mitchell is survived by his wife, susan, their children, lola and Kellam, his parents and in-laws and several nieces and nephews. The family asks that any gifts be directed toward ALS research or toward his children. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for his kids. Again, kenneth Mitchell was 49 years old, and that brings us to the end of this edition of the show. Please be sure to check us out on social media. We're at Twitter and Multiverse Tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as well, as well as Blue Sky, and you can also find me on threads at Multiverse Tonight. Now, if you found value in the show, please head on over to multiversetonightcom, check out the show notes, visit our T-Public store and so much more. And if you're brand new to the show, welcome. Be a subscriber, share us with friends, family and so on, and leave some feedback. Let us know how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse Tonight is a production of half-baked genre productions. Copyright 2024. All right reserve. This podcast is part of the Popcos, the Culture Podcast Network. Find out more about our other podcasts at popcosdiculturecom.