Business dispute escalates with temporary restraining order

Editor’s note: Updated with correction August 14, 2019.

A follow up now and correction to a story we covered about an ongoing business dispute in the Imperial Valley.

On June 26, we aired a story about a dispute involving 4:13 Fitness Center and its former manager Ulises Cortez.

A proposal, which aired as part of the broadcast, was presented in February of this year in an attempt to end the dispute.

The proposal, which presented terms that were to be included in a formal contract, was signed by Cortez, but ultimately not put into effect.

The proposal, in part, provided a payment to Cortez in the amount of $204,998 in exchange for his surrender of certain social media and email accounts belonging to 4:13 ‘s.

The proposal also included termination of Cortez’s employment and forgiveness of amounts still owed by Cortez as part of an initial buy-in arrangement.

The proposal does not support Cortez’s claimed losses, represented to this station as close to a million dollars. To the extent the June 26 broadcast suggested otherwise, the station regrets the error.

Since our original story on June, 4:13 and owners Terry Robertson and Andrew Colace have filed a declaratory relief action against Cortez seeking the return of 4:13 ‘s social media and email accounts, and a declaration that Cortez does not have, and never had, an ownership interest in 4:13 . Cortez has yet to answer the complaint.

For his part, Cortez has represented to this station that he was a silent partner kept off of the books due to his criminal record and that he made partial payments to buy into the business. 4:13 alleges those payments came too late and fell far short of the $35,000 needed as part of an initial buy-in under an oral agreement entered into in October of 2015, before the gym converted to a corporation in 2016, with no shares going to Cortez.

The parties are scheduled for a status conference in the declaratory relief action in December. A separate restraining order matter, referenced in an August 2 , 2019 update to this story, is set for hearing in September.

A temporary restraining order entered by the court against Cortez preventing him from harassing, intimidating, molesting, attacking, striking or disturbing the peace of Robertson or his family members remains in effect, in that case, pending a further hearing. The restraining order also prevents Cortez from contacting Robertson or his family members, and also orders that Cortez stays at least 50 yards away from Robertson and his family members.

Editor’s note: This August 2, 2019 update clarifies events reported in our original story that was published June 26, 2019.

If you live in the Imperial Valley, you’ve likely seen a mobile billboard in Brawley that reads “Thieves Exposed.” The billboard shows pictures of the CEO and CFO of 4:13 Fitness Center, Terry Robertson, and Andrew Colace.

The person responsible for the billboard is Ulises Cortez, a trainer who was fired from the gym. The trio has been involved in a business dispute that dates back to 2015. The business dispute revolves around ownership interest in 4:13 Fitness Center.

Cortez claims Robertson and Colace wanted to make him a silent partner in the business. Robertson and Colace dispute the ownership claim and now Robertson has filed a temporary restraining order against Cortez. That restraining order was filed on June 26, the same day our story first aired. This after Cortez displayed a banner accusing Robertson and 4:13 Fitness Center CFO Andrew Colace of cutting him out of the business.

The dispute started four years ago, in 2015. An email from Robertson to Cortez discusses plans on having a man identified as Jerry Tucker joining their business. An email from Robertson to Cortez dated October 19, 2015 read, “If we have Tucker, we can get whatever we want, whenever we want. Tucker has money, owns the property and is guaranteed to help out. He is willing to be a silent partner.”

The email goes on to discuss plans to split the company’s profits. The same email states, “If the company is profiting $20,000 per month, then in the quarter it will have made $60,000. We split that 4 ways. $15,000 you, $15,000 me, $15,000 Tucker and $15,000 for improvements.”

The email also mentions a plan for Cortez to buy the partners out. “Basically, after Tucker and myself have made triple net (three times our investment), you can start buying us out.”

It also mentions investment money. The email states, “If we have to cover $10,000 of your investment money, you will owe us $10,000. If the first quarterly draw is $15,000 each (like the scenario above), you’d pay us back the $10,000 then and keep the $5,000 remaining for yourself.”

However, Cortez said he was not mentioned as a legal owner on paper due to a potential credit issue based on his criminal record. Cortez claims he was told he would help manage the business. In the email from 2015 Robertson wrote, “Since you will be working full time on the business, then you should get a paycheck on top of what we draw out, like you and I talked about.”

Cortez showed 13 On Your Side a receipt from March 2016 that reads, “Received from Ulises Cortez the sum of $6,000 on March 4, 2016, as payment for the buy-in of 4:13 Fitness.”

Cortez continued working at 4:13 for the following two years. Then in April of 2018, Robertson and new partner Andrew Colace filed corporation papers, no longer listing Tucker as a partner.

In February of this year, Cortez presented a proposal to resolve the dispute, which was signed by Colace, but not by Robertson. The proposal mentions a ‘buy-out’ of Cortez and forgiving sums purportedly owed for his initial buy-in. Cortez said Robertson didn’t like the proposal, so Robertson came up with his own contract that treats Cortez as an employee only. Cortez claims he never signed it.

At the end of February 2019, Cortez received a letter of termination, stating, “Your employment with the Company, which began on or about November 20, 2015, has been terminated,” written by Childers & Associates.

In June, Cortez was seen in Brawley displaying a banner with the images of Robertson and Colace, calling them thieves.

The restraining order filed by Robertson and Colace that same month claims Cortez displayed his banner in front of the school and workplace of some of the owners’ family. Cortez claims the banner is no longer being used.

A hearing was held Thursday with regards to the restraining order, but a judge moved the hearing to September. Meanwhile Cortez said he intends to sue 4:13 Fitness Center over the dispute, but as of Friday, the only case pending is that relating to the restraining order.

No documentation was found to show that Cortez was ever listed as a legal owner of 4:13. But his argument is that he was a silent partner, due to his record.

This is something the attorneys of Robertson and Colace refuted in a document they sent us in July, stating that Cortez was never an owner of 4:13. We’ll continue following the story and bring you any additional developments.