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sprado1965 · Apr 14, 2012, 02:14 PM

I was living on my houseboat at a Marina in Brentwood, CA. I went to work for the owner/landlord of the marina and just 3 hours after handing him my letter of resignation, he came to my boat and gave me a 30-day Notice to Vacate stating, "We got your letter, now here's ours". I know this is a clear case of "retaliation" but do not know what venue I should take this to to get reimbursed for all of the expences I incurred to move.

Fr_Chuck · Apr 14, 2012, 02:43 PM

What makes you think you have any right to get reimbursed ? Are they breaking the lease ?
If there is no lease, did they give you proper notice. On a month to month rental, they may give notice to require you to move.

It is not a nice thing to do, but don't see any legal reason they would have to pay for your expences. If you have a lease they may not evict you without it being a term of the lease.

AK lawyer · Apr 14, 2012, 02:44 PM

You don't have much of a case. A place to stay which comes with the job (or, in your case, a berth at a marina) would be a tenancy at will. They can evict you.

The only thing is that, in California under some circumstances, they have to give you a 60-day notice. If you don't move in the 30 days they gave you, they can go to court for an eviction notice. If 60 days is required, you may get a reprieve.

But don't count on damages. You are not entitled to any.

I'm curious. When you quit, what did you expect them to do? Let you continue keeping your boat there indefinitely?

sprado1965 · Apr 15, 2012, 09:07 AM

Thanks for the comments... We had actually been renting a berth from them for several months before we started working for them. When they hired us, as a couple, to be the Harbor Masters, the slip fees then became a part of our monthly wages. After working a combined 386 hours in the first 2 weeks, without a day off or meal breaks, and after witnessing some serious illegal business practices, we decided it was not what we had signed up for & resigned. The retaliation on their part came just 3 hours later and only after we asked to be paid what was legally owed to us, per CA Labor Code. For the next 30+ days, we were harassed every day, told that if we went to the Labor Board they would tow our boat, tow our cars, lien our boat, bank accts. etc. In 11 days our account changed 5 times and went from $0 to over $8,000 which included an illegal lien sale fee & falsified charges. They made threats everyday and insisted that we drop our claims, sign several legal contracts and settle for $750 for the 386 hours worked, along with leaving their marina. Because they refused to pay us, we had to sell one of our cars for $3K less then its worth along with paying 1st + deposit at a new marina. We shouldn't have been forced to leave our home because we excercised our legal rights and asked to be paid. We both filed Wage Claims with the Labor Commissioner and have finally, after 8 months and 2 hearings later, been paid our wages + penalties. They continue to post slanderous statements on line about us along with slandering us to others that remain at their marina. They've never returned our deposit either.

sprado1965 · Apr 15, 2012, 09:13 AM

So my question is... Why should we be expected to just "float" on down the river, like so many before us, forced to find a new home and be out over $4,000 because we asked to be paid for the hours we worked for these people?

excon · Apr 15, 2012, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by sprado1965

So my question is...Why should we be expected to just "float" on down the river, like so many before us, forced to find a new home and be out over $4,000 because we asked to be payed for the hours we worked for these people?

Hello s:

You WON your claim against them didn't you? Apparently you have been paid, so you're not being asked to leave because of that. You're being asked to leave because your tenancy is up.

excon

ScottGem · Apr 15, 2012, 11:01 AM

The problem here is your employment is separate from your rental. The laws preventing retaliation generally refer to actions that deal with your rental. But since the retaliation is based on your wanting to be paid for work you did, it doesn't apply to then terminating your lease. In fact, they could make the argument that the slip is fro the harbor master and since you no longer fill that role you have to move.

So the question is whether you had a lease or were a month to month tenant.

Your claim for getting paid for the work you did is also separate. Now you indicated you moved already. I don't see you getting reimbursed for the move.

What is the status of your claim for payment? Have you hired an attorney about the slander and harassment cases?