Legally Sound | Smart Business

Nasir and Matt discuss various lawsuits against social media platforms in which users are accused of artificially inflating their social currency. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Do you ever just think about how, like, we do a podcast and, in a way, it’s really weird because we’re attorneys and we spend our time on Thursday nights recording a podcast. I mean, I have a great time but, when I start looking at it from a third person’s perspective, I’m just like, “What are we doing?” but I love it. MATT: Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s only – and I guess it’s technically evening for me – it’s early evening. For you, it’s a little bit later. NASIR: Yeah, 7 o’clock. MATT: People don’t really want to listen to attorneys for the most part. NASIR: Yeah, exactly. But people have been listening. We have a nice little following now. I mean, it’s pretty neat, you know? MATT: It’s a

Nasir and Matt discuss the class action suit against Jessica Alba's Honest Company for allegedlyselling products that contained harmful chemicals. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: And we get to cover your favorite actress today, right? She is an actress, right? MATT: Yeah, and I have something to bring up. She has like a bio on their company site. It’s Jessica Alba and it says, “Golden Globe-nominated actress whose career includes roles in films such as Fantastic Four, blah blah blah… and television shows like Dark Angel, The Office, and Entourage.” When was she on The Office? That’s what I trying to remember. Was that a typo? NASIR: Yeah, it’s a typo. MATT: She’s prone to typos or making mistakes. NASIR: Making mistakes, yeah. MATT: We’ll get down to the bottom of this before the end of the episode. You know, how do you choose the name of your company if you’re s

Nasir and Matt talk about the story out of Texas that Mexican restaurants were reportedly attempting to ban Trump supporters from eating at their restaurants. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist to that business news. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Today, we’re talking politics. MATT: I wanted to bring up one thing first. I don’t know if you do this one purpose but I think this is the third March we’ve done the podcast. I think all three years we’ve recorded on the same time when Dayton is playing. NASIR: Dayton’s playing right now? MATT: In about five minutes they’re starting up. NASIR: Oh, okay. Well, I’ll pull that up, too. San Diego State didn’t make it this year which is a pretty big deal. MATT: No, they didn’t. Long story short, they had some bad losses at the beginning of the year. They lost their conference tournament the final so they lost the automatic bid and so they were on the bubble.

Nasir and Matt talk about the mayor of Austin recommending employees work from home on Friday due to SXSW and the President being in town and how that affects employers. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: That’s correct. MATT: All right, that’s it. NASIR: That’s actually the first time you got that right. MATT: Yeah. Well, you know the phrase, “260th time’s a charm.” NASIR: Yeah. Wow. 260, huh? MATT: Yeah. NASIR: We’re getting up there. MATT: It’s a good amount – close to 300. NASIR: Closer to 300 than it was closer to 200, that’s true. MATT: Yeah, definitely. NASIR: Have you ever been to South by Southwest? MATT: Oh, is that what that means? I thought it was Swiss… I don’t know. I was going to try and pronounce it as a word. No, I haven’t. Never even been to Austin. NASIR: Oh. Most people compare Austin to San Diego – or I should say they see some comparable

The guys kick off the week by discussing the lawsuit in Hawaii where an employee posted a defamatory remark about a customer and tried to holdthe employer liable. They also discuss the new anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy posting requirements for California. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: And, today, we are covering… actually, I don’t think we’ve had a case out of Hawaii yet – except maybe that time we covered that surfer that was eaten by a shark. MATT: We’ve done so many episodes, I don’t even know if that was even… I would believe that that’s something we’ve talked about but I really have no idea. NASIR: I don’t know. I just made that up. I don’t know if it sounds like I have something in my mouth or not, does it? MATT: Uh… NASIR: I have a cough drop in my mouth because I’m still coughing. I’ve been having a cough for like a few weeks but I was h

Nasir and Matt discuss the new iPhone updatethat employees should pay attention to. They also talk about the pitfalls of employers issuing wearable technology to their employees. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist to the business news. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Welcome to our podcast. MATT: Let’s first talk about… NASIR: I had another sip of this Red Bull. MATT: Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk about. This is an update. We finally both got our class action Red Bulls. NASIR: I mean, it’s literally like cough syrup. It’s possible there might be another class action settlement because it might be considered poison. I’ve been drinking this thing for the last – I don’t know – almost an hour I’ve been sipping it. MATT: You don’t have to. It’s not required. NASIR: That’s true. But I want it. I deserve it. I worked so hard for it. MATT: Yeah, by going online and filling out your name and address.

The guys live long and prosper by welcoming Star Trek expert Michael Liberto to discuss the Prelude of Axanar fan film and the copyright infringement claims alleged by CBS and Paramount. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. With us, we have our Star Trek expert, Matt Staub. MATT: Oh, no. Well, we talked about Star Wars – it was in December, right? Or maybe January? NASIR: The last thing you want to do is basically say Star Wars and Star Trek are the same thing but go ahead. Please, go ahead. MATT: I know. I almost didn’t because I know it was going to be bad. But, yeah, I only brought it up because of this. We talked about Star Wars a month or two ago – or whenever the movie came out – and I knew some but Star Trek I know even less – actually, very little at all. So, I’m not the expert by any means. But, luckily, we found somebody who is a Star Trek expert and this is Michael Liberto. MICHAEL: Hey! How

Nasir and Matt talk about the Seattle startup SwanLuv, which quickly shifted its business model of giving couples free loans for weddings. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Matthew Staub, we are continuing our week of talking about startups that have had some growing pains. MATT: Yeah, this one seems to be all pain, actually. NASIR: Yeah, from the beginning, right? MATT: Well, I was trying to figure out when exactly they started all this. From what I can tell, there was a ton of stories in December – you know, a couple of months ago. I’m guessing it’s been about two months since they ramped up and started. But let me just explain what this company is. I had not actually even heard of this, surprisingly. This is the type of story that my wife would have come across and said, “Hey, have you heard about this? You should have this on the podcast.” It’s called Swanluv. I

The guys break down the rapid growth of HR Software company Zenefits and why it is now facing aninvestigation from the California Department of Insurance. (Photo: Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic) Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: This week, we are covering – what did I call it? Rapid-rise startups or rapid-growth startups? And the problems that they face with that. MATT: Yeah. Well, the one today is I guess they both technically fall into that category but I think the one today is a much greater version of that. Wednesday’s episode, I don’t think it was over that long of a period and I don’t know how much growth they’ve had in terms of financial… NASIR: Yeah, that’s true. MATT: Today, we’re talking about Zenefits which had some pretty substantial growth. NASIR: Yeah, three-year-old company, I think last year – 2015 – they had a $4 billion – with a B as in “boy” – valua

Nasir and Matt welcome Leiza Dolghih to discuss a former vice president of Life Time Fitness that used company resources toopen a competing gym. Check out Leiza Dolghih's blog here at www.northtexaslegalnews.com. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name’s Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Matthew Staub, and today we are covering non-competes again for the second time this week. Well, the first time wasn’t really non-compete related but it was tangentially related. MATT: Yeah, Monday’s episode, I guess it fell under the non-compete umbrella. We have a guest today – first time having a guess in a while – Leiza Dolghih. She is a litigation attorney out of Dallas, specializing in a few areas here – one which being unfair competition, trade secrets, and non-competes. The reason we’re having her on today is she specializes in this area and we’re talking about a non-compete agreement that was actually held to be enfor

Nasir and Matt discuss a rare win for California employers and when they can seek expense reimbursement for voluntary employee training. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Episode 253. This is a monumental episode. I think it’s the highest episode number we’ve ever done. MATT: I don’t know. It could be. NASIR: I think so. MATT: You’re just saying that because I’m recording this from a plane, right? Physically, the highest I’ve ever been up off the ground. NASIR: Altitude-wise, it’s the highest. MATT: Yeah. NASIR: Correct, exactly. MATT: Definitely 253 is the highest number-wise because we record going up. But, yeah, I think altitude-wise, this has to be the highest. But we’ve actually evened it out because I think you said you were in Death Valley recording this so I don’t know. Who knows? NASIR: So, two milestones, definitely put it in the books. But, today, wh

Nasir and Matt talk about Yahoo's quarterly performance review system andwhy it was flawed from day one. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha, and… MATT: I wasn’t quick enough there. My name is Matt Staub. You gave me a fraction of a second to say something and I hesitated. NASIR: Well, I give you a one out of five then in your performance review. MATT: Ah, well, very pertinent to what we’re talking about today. NASIR: Yeah, that’ what I do. MATT: That could end up being all right based on this stacked ranking system. I believe it’s kind of a bell curve on how all of this works but was it the QPR Quarterly Progress Report? NASIR: Yeah, this makes my eyes roll. It’s some kind of corporate program that it needs an acronym to it. MATT: Well, yeah, this isn’t the first time this has been implemented and I think some other big companies have run into similar issues before but one thing that Marissa Mayer

The guys take the court to discuss the recent lawsuit against a video game company claiming copyright infringement over tattoos on NBA players' bodies. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: And I have zero tattoos. How many tattoos do you have? MATT: 32. NASIR: 32. Actually, you know, I just read, by the way – I don’t know what made me think of this but – someone ranked the best football cities and I think San Diego is ranked, like, 34 or 32 or something like that. I don’t know how it goes, but there’s only like, 30-something teams in the country, right? MATT: Yeah. Well, there’s 32 teams so I hope they weren’t 34th. NASIR: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was 32. MATT: Well, so there’s a couple of things – well, it wouldn’t matter because they’re either going to count Saint Louis or they’re going to count Los Angeles. But New York has two teams. NASIR: Does that count as tw

Nasir and Matt celebrate episode 250 by discussing the Department of Labor opinion about joint employment and how to distinguish between horizontal and vertical joint employment. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Regally – uh, regally? Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. I’m your king, Nasir Pasha, and this is where we talk about… I don’t know, I’m so off now. This is the podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name’s Nasir Pasha. MATT: I’m Matt Staub and I thought I was on mute for a second – all sorts of off. NASIR: We’re so off. Horrible beginning but we’re going to keep recording. MATT: We’ll be fine. NASIR: I think that’s actually the first mistake we’ve ever had in this podcast now that I think about it. MATT: It’s not bad. This is the 250th episode so one mistake every 250, I’ll take that. It’s a pretty good success rate. NASIR: Did we forget to do something special for 250? MATT: Yeah. NASIR: Of course. MATT: I just had lunch with a couple of pe

Nasir and Matt discussthe different waysthat Netflix and 24 Hour Fitness handled backing out of grandfather pricing to customers. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist to that business news. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Today, we’re covering a very interesting topic, but you’re going to have wait to see what it is. MATT: I can see that you think subscription-based or monthly pricing or whatever you want to call it is an interesting topic. NASIR: Well, honestly, I didn’t name the topic because I wasn’t sure exactly how to summarize the topic. I just know we get to talk about Netflix and 24 Hour Fitness. MATT: We’ll get into the Netflix part of it first. I guess, for people that pay or for people that have been signed up, 2014 or before that, they were paying $7.99 a month which I believe is what I pay. I’m not positive but I think that’s when I signed up. I don’t know. I don’t even know when I signed

Nasir and Matt throw the pigskin around in discussing the Minnesota Vikings' allegations that Wells Fargo is photobombing their new U.S. Bank Stadium. Nasir also gives the Chargers a proper eulogy. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist to that business news. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to another football episode even though the season’s ending. MATT: Well, I mean, actually, it’s not really ending. I mean, we’re kind of going right into the most exciting part of the year. I guess, for you, it’s ending because (1) your local team just got crushed last weekend – I guess, by the time this comes out, the previous weekend – lost 30-0 at home. And then, your favorite team is no longer going to exist anymore. So, I guess, for you, it really is ending. NASIR: It’s true. It’s been a bad year for myself and football. I’ve pretty much given up on the Chargers. Of course, my wife’s upset at me about

Nasir explains his experience at a local sandwich shop, Relish Fine Foods, and the guys speculate as to how the cafe is restricted from allowing customers to eat on the premises. Check out the Relish website here:www.relishhouston.com Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we coiver business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: And, this episode – I feel like I was about to go in a more formal introduction like, “In this episode, we’re going to talk about…” but when do we ever do that? MATT: Not often. NASIR: Not often. MATT: Or maybe ever I guess. I don’t know if we have. NASIR: Yeah, just look at the title and people know what we’re talking about, whatever the title may be. MATT: This isn’t a TV show where you do a preview. NASIR: Yeah, an introduction or a preview and then they show clips of the podcast. MATT: Yes, some podcasts do have… ours aren’t long enough so it wouldn’t really make sense but some of them will

Nasir and Matt kick off 2016 by discussing how one Indianapolis bar responded to a negative post on its Facebook page. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: And, please, forgive Matt because he just informed me that he’s rearranging his room. I’m not sure what that has to do with the podcast but, for some reason, it was important to tell me about it so I thought I’d share that with you as well. MATT: Well, just in case, I thought you’d have more excitement for, well, none of the episodes ran in 2016 yet, I don’t think. NASIR: Oh, yeah, we’re back! 2016. I think every year we talk about, you know, when it’s not okay to say “Happy New Year” but, I think, yeah, at least for right now, being the first week of January, this coming out the second week, I think we can say this is the happy new year episode. MATT: We’re recording on the seventh so, I think, anything under a week

The guys welcome Edreace Purmul to discuss Quentin Tarantino's problem with Hollywood's Cinerama Domeallegedly backing out of its agreement to show his movie in lieu of Star Wars. [youtube]https://youtu.be/_pd6yO-jBRo[/youtube] Edreace Purmul graduated from San Diego State University’s Film and Business school in 2006. His first debut into the cinema limelight incidentally was also his first film attempt post-graduation. His micro-budget feature film MOZLYM received immediate international acclaim and interest for its controversial and socially conscious appeal. MOZLYM received a Nomination for Best Picture in 2008 at the Cairo International Film Festival and won the Audience Favorite award at Riverside International Film Festival. It also was selected for official competition at International Film Festival Thailand, South Africa Film Festival, and British Film Festival of Los Angeles, where Purmul received multiple nominations for Best First Time Director. Check out Edreace'slatest film here! Full Podcas

Nasir and Matt discuss new laws that will go into effect for 2016 and how employers should adjust their practices accordingly. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist. My name is Nasir Pasha. Welcoming my co-host who happens to be an expert on time travel of what’s going to happen in the future. MATT: Yeah, Matt Staub. I guess it kind of makes sense. NASIR: Kinda? MATT: Well, I’m looking forward to this episode because you were just going to tell me all the new laws for 2016 and I was going to comment on them I believe was the plan. NASIR: Let me just open this big book of new law. I mean, we’re focusing on some of the labor laws for California only. Granted, California is crazy but, if you have employees in multiple states but just if you have one employee in California, then there’s a lot of new issues you have to deal with. MATT: Actually, that’s a question a lot of clients ask. “Are there any new labor laws that I need to be