Defense Judgment Against Alleged Former Employee Seeking Partial Ownership in Business and Labor Law Claims
Summary of Facts
Client owned a successful dog grooming business. Her former boyfriend and ex-husband of short-term marriage, filed a lawsuit against Client’s company after the divorce claiming he owned 50% of the company and sought an order from the court confirming his ownership rights. Defendant also claimed he was an employee of the company and that he was entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages, penalties, and other labor law violations. In total, Defendant sought in excess of $1,000,000 in damages.
Procedural History
The case was filed in the Orange County Superior Court. We filed a cross-complaint against the Plaintiff for conversion and injunctive relief related to him holding hostage the company’s email accounts, websites, phone numbers, and social media accounts. The case went to trial.
Result:
The trial court issued a judgment in favor of our client. The Plaintiff lost on all of his claims. And the Court granted the relief sought by our client in the cross-complaint, including the injunctive relief against the Plaintiff regarding the digital property he unlawful took from the company. The court also made a finding that the Plaintiff lacked credibility and that his testimony was unbelievable due to a very effective cross-examination of him during trial. We also got our costs and expert fees to be paid the Plaintiff. The amount of those costs was over $50,000 and we have collected those costs through a writ of attachment on Plaintiff’s personal bank account.
