Legal Question in Business Law in California

Hello. I have a very well documented case supported by emails and other documentation.

Last year, I had successfully opened up a seasonal gold panning business in Gold Country with a business partner. My business partner was at the time my boyfriend of only 8 months (I am female) and he had worked for another company for teaching gold panning lessons for basically less than minimum wage. I had actually been pretty much supporting him as he was very broke. The other company that he had worked for was not giving him much work. The office would be at his home. I purchased a computer. The company would pay for 100% electricity, 100% telephone, 100% internet services.

I had been attending college and was pursuing my bachelors degree. I am 40 years old. I thought it would be a great opportunity for the both of us. I designed and created the website, used my knowledge and past marketing skills to build the business. I also have certificates in accounting. We ended up being number one on TripAdvisor as an attraction. I also taught gold panning lessons. I invested my money in the beginning, paid for the general liability insurance, new gold panning equipment while he had none to personally invest. We had to use money that we had earned from the company to further invest into equipment.

During the time that I had created the website and while we were exploring options with land owners for the use of a very limited resource, a creek, to conduct our gold panning business, we found out I was pregnant. I immediately told him I did not wish to be pregnant. While I was extremely upset and sick, he ran down and put the business license in his name only. He also opened up a business bank account with his name only on it. He wanted me to go through with the pregnancy. He was very upset with me. He thought by doing this that I would choose to keep the pregnancy. He named the business as to what we had to agreed to which matched the website. I have emails and documentation supporting that I created the website, when it was first created, and when it was first published to the web.

When I asked him to put me on the business license, he gave me great difficulties. He wanted me to sign a partnership agreement in which it only benefited him and it was not as what we had agreed to. I told him I would take him to court. He put me on the business license, but did not add me to the bank account. I had at the time viewing of both of his accounts as he was commingling funds.

After I had invested my money into the business, my business partner became extremely controlling. All summer long he was angry and hostile with me when I would have to stay at a friend's home because of my children. It was inappropriate for my children to stay at his home for many reasons. My money was tied up into the company and when I had suggested my renting a small place in town he became infuriated and told me all I wanted to do was spend company money.

In the beginning of September, I had asked my boyfriend business partner if I could borrow some company equipment to use with my friends. He would not allow this, although he could do with it what he wanted and use with his friends without asking me. He stored the equipment at his home/office. I decided that I was going to take it anyway. It was down at the creek. He called 911 and told the police I was stealing company equipment.

At the end of September after becoming jealous, he threatened to close down the business. He changed the log in ID to the business so that I could not view the bank accounts any longer.

During the fall, I began attending school. He knew that this was going to be my course of action. This time of the year was the end of our busy season. I would come up as often as I could to go to work. He would get angry with me stating we needed to save money up for the winter and the company could not afford to give me anything. He had control of the finances. He gave me minimal amounts of money, barely enough for gas. He told me that if I came up, it was for personal reasons only, and that I could not expect to get paid or reimbursed. I had sacrificed my time all summer and made peanuts to build the business.

In November, because of John's behavior, I had been trying to avoid him. He would yell at me for not participating in the business. The business was dead during the winter. He sent me ridiculous emails stating that I was not focusing on the business. He was jealous that I had gone out with my sister and unbeknownst to him celebrated my grandmothers 89th birthday. He had seen it on Facebook. There was nothing at the time to be working on. When we were later threatened by our competition to be sued for whatever reasons, I was on top of that and resolved that problem.

In the beginning of January, Leo Burnett an advertising agency that was working for the Marlboro corporation contacted us. They wanted to use us in a special promotion about activities to do during the summer. They liked our ratings and our website. They found us through that. We had contracted to participate in the promotion. I was very excited about it. We had known that because our internet traffic ranking had increased significantly and all of our pre-paid advertising, our ranking on TripAdvisor, that we would have a busy summer. We were forecasting predictions of averaging $1000 to $2000 per day.

I started school. We used part of my school loan to pay for a conditional land use permit. $2600. I paid $1300. We also used part company money, part of the business partners money. We had also opened another bank account that we both had access to. He had agreed that we would only use this account. It never came to fruition. He minimally funded the account.

At the end of March, business started trickling in. I purchased another computer with my own funds to start working on marketing. I dedicated many many hours into marketing. This is when the hotels/motels start their marketing. I linked us to many websites. Although we had just a few customers as it had been raining, he began complaining that I was not participating in the business. I would regularly come to his home on the weekends. My business partner very well knew that we would be having a busy season.

Spring Break came along. We had a lot of bookings. I also had to start working on getting prepared for taxes. The business partner would not let me view the banking info since September. I finally was able to view them in order to do the accounting. I could not do the accounting without the bank statements since September of the year before. There was a lot of catching up to do. I had found out he had been depositing monies into his personal account instead of putting into the business. He had transferred monies out of the account after yelling at me that we had to save for the winter. He had told me that he had borrowed money from a friend in order to travel to Maine by truck to visit his family in December.

While he was working down at the creek, I was trying to finish the accounting for the taxes. He started yelling at me that I had to work down at the creek. It takes hours upon hours to do taxes. We did not have so many customers that he could not handle it on his own. I did work at the creek for a few days. I had also worked on cleaning up the creek prior to the season.

I had asked John to see recent banking info. He would not show me. It took getting myself yanked out of a chair by my hair to see them the following day. I guess that was his apology to me.

One of his friends from southern California started staying at his house. I had known him as well. I had mentioned in front of the friend that the business partner had been physically violent with me after he told the business partner how "patient" he was, since he probably would not be able to hold restraint if someone called him a "thief". (I did not say that) Because I had been asking to see the banking statements, business partner was telling everyone that I was calling him a thief.

I found out that John was having clients make checks out payable to him and not to the company. He was depositing them into his account. In the meantime, I was not being paid at all. I had to use my own money. I had also discovered that while I was working in the office that John was not reporting how many customers we actually had. He began not putting in info into the company reservation book correctly. This became an argument. The business is mostly a cash business.

I had gone back to go to school. I decided that I would have to drop some classes. On April 21, I dropped some classes so I would be able to be in Gold Country for 5 days, instead of just 3.

My business partner told me that we did not have that many customers on the upcoming weekend and that I should just stay at home. 1 group Saturday, 1 group Sunday. He became angry at me when I told him I dropped some classes. He said that he could not make any money if I came up. That Friday, while he was working for the census, I went to the creek, did some creek maintenance, then went on a brochure run. The next day I showed up at the creek, there were a ton of customers. There were at least 5 groups, and one group of at least 10. It was easily and $800 to $1000 day. Now remember this is mostly a cash business with some credit card transactions. I had asked to go to the house/office to use the bathroom and was upset that he did not inform me of the customers and felt as if he purposely was trying to keep me away. All he could think of was where were you last night and what I had purchased for $9.00 on the new company debit card. (I have no cell phone reception in the area).

Business partner started making demands that I take a small percentage of the business and just stay away. I counter offered with 50%, same as it was.

The next thing you know, unbeknownst to me, he files a domestic violence restraining order against me stating that I am verbally abusive and call him a thief stating that I just show up at his house (which is not true). He asked for a stay away order. I found out that he had done this after we had relations. He thought it was funny. Instead of going the proper route by going to mediation/arbitration, he sued the venue to keep me away so I could not see what was going on with the business.

I responded to the allegations and asked for a restraining order against him. At the hearing, I did not have an attorney. The judge at first admonished the business partner for bringing it. I was not to concerned at the time about having personal conduct orders temporarily held against me. We did not go to "trial". The judge ordered mutual temporary non-clets orders. Personal conduct orders. Stay away from one another's homes unless in context of business and business mediation. Do not contact one anther in any way other than what is necessary for the business. Business partner (male) is to disclose information as it pertains to the business to me. Business equipment is to be put in storage no later that 5-31-2010 and parties are to share costs of this storage. Arrange and attend mediations as it pertains to the business. Temp orders to remain in effect pending the next hearing. Hearing was set for August 26 2010.

The business partner was not happy about these orders. He thought that he was going to get me out of the business. He had threatened 2 days later that he was going to do something to kick me out of the business. (All of this is documented in emails). I asked him to see the reservation book and he got mad. He flashed it in front of my face.The reservation book is part of the company information.

We worked at the creek together for two days. He was extremely angry. Two days later he told me that he no longer worked for the business and now had his own. He did not return company equipment. He was using the reservations that we already had. He started giving me the runaround. He had told me that I was not allowed to use the creek, only he could. When I showed up for a reservation, he stated that they were his customers. He told them he was no longer with the company, and started his own. he used our company information to acquire this business.Would they like to go with him instead. He had also copied and pasted our website. He called the police on me and told them I was violating my restraining order by showing up and I was contacting him not regarding the business. The police officer yelled at me and told me to get my own business and if he caught me, I would be arrested.

I need someone's help and badly.

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