Legal Defence for Byron

My dearest Off Broadway family and friends, I am humbly asking  you for your help.

Twelve years ago, to the day, I built and opened a bar in East London that has acted as a bastion of celebration and fun with our chosen family. It has become a cornerstone of the Broadway Market/Hackney community. When I came to London in 2008, I founded, with my now former friend, a small corner bar. I brought my American flare and cocktail culture alongside decades of hospitality management experience with me to his father’s former print store.  My ex-business partner's dad had the location, I brought everything else.

We agreed on a hand shake that we would be business partners. I trusted him and he was my friend. We have been operating in good faith on this handshake for over ten years.

Now, without warning, I have been shut out, physically locked out, and cut off from what was 12 years of my blood, sweat, and tears into a place folks can call their local. All with less than 24 hours notice.
For reasons unbeknownst to me and the people around us, My ex-business partner  has made the decision to shut me out of our business without warning, mediation, or willingness for a discussion. On November 8th, I received an email from my ex-business partner firing me and three of the four bartenders. 
I am not an employee and cannot be "fired". But this also means that I do not have the standard recourse of a tribunal or other avenues available to the other terminated bartenders who are currently fighting wrongful dismissal claims. 

It has taken me this long to garner the strength to ask for help from my community.

I need help from you in raising the funds in the coming weeks needed to get good legal advice to help me and my family against the financial losses and defamation of character at my ex-business partner hands.
My ex-business partner has left us without income and without any attempt to compensate me for my role in the success of Off Broadway. 

I haven’t been made rich by Off Broadway but it has always been a consistent humble source of income in my life and has allowed me to support my partner and two children.

This is why I am asking for your help my friends.

Over the last 12 years, I was operating on the agreement of a 15% ownership stake in the business and a 25% share of the gross profits as an active partner to compensate for my skill in managing the day-to-day success of Off Broadway. This was all on a handshake. Never did I think he could betray me and my family in such a way. Clearly, I was naïve and wrong about the trust we shared. Not only am I paying for this emotionally with such a betrayal, but so are my partner and children as I am the main breadwinner of the family.

This is again, why I am humbly asking for your support. I know this year has been tougher than many of us have ever seen. You know I am not one to ask for help or discuss my problems publicly, but I feel I have little choice as we all try to get through this harsh winter of 2020.

My family and I do not have the resources to cover the expenses of a legal mediation, let alone seek legal advice. We are now just trying to survive as I have lost my main source of income without notice or compensation. My only recourse is to seek legal guidance and we all know that can get quite expensive. All the while I am trying to pick up freelance work to continue to support my family the best I can in these harrowing economic times.

I simply cannot just walk away without trying to fight for what is fair.
I am forever grateful for the times we’ve shared at Off Broadway and am honoured by any support you might lend to our struggle.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.