Can a claim of right defense be used to recover property from a former employer?

In Holmes, the defendant was hired to clean the victim's garage. The defendant took some of the items in the garage. The defendant claimed the victim owed him money for cleaning the garage and did not intend to pay. The defendant believed this entitled him to take property to offset the debt. We found the contention that there was a claim-of-right defense to be unmeritorious and noted that "Penal Code section 511 [ ] provides that the unlawful retention of the property of another to offset or pay demands held against him is no defense to a charge of embezzlement." (People v. Holmes, supra, 5 Cal.App.3d at p. 24, 84 Cal.Rptr. 889, fn. omitted.)