A tribunal case against a former cafe business located in the Braddan Roundhouse has had to be adjourned after it emerged the directors had wound up the company - without telling the complainant.

Francesco Romagnosi had taken his case against Caffee Roundhouse Ltd to the employment tribunal claiming detriment short of dismissal.

This included a claim for unlawful deduction of pay, holiday pay and notice pay, and failure to provide a pay statement.

Caffee Roundhouse Limited ceased trading towards the end of last year, its business having operated at the Braddan Roundhouse since September 2024.

On January 26 this year the company was dissolved and removed from the companies register, an application for dissolution having been signed the previous November.

But at no point did the then directors of Caffee Roundhouse Limited, Kass Haricharan and her husband, advise the tribunal or the complainant that they intended to wind up the company

Tribunal chair Peter Taylor only discovered the company had been dissolved when he checked the Companies Registry website on February 2.

Despite this, Caffee Roundhouse Ltd had continued to participate in the tribunal proceedings, filing documents and agreeing to a hearing date on February 4.

Mr Taylor said the former directors’ continued participation in proceedings had ‘clearly misled’ the tribunal and the complainant.

He pointed out that claims after the death of a party can be continued by their estates, but a dissolved company presents an entirely different situation as there is no one responsible for the company.

Mr Taylor adjourned the case ’sine die’ - i.e without fixing a future date - for the complainant to apply for Caffee Roundhouse Ltd to be restored to the register.

He said in a judgment: ‘This situation is entirely because of the actions of Mr V and Mrs K Haricharan as former directors of Caffee Roundhouse Ltd.

‘They have given no indication that they had applied to dissolve Caffee Roundhouse Ltd and it would be entirely inequitable for them to profit from their conduct if the complaint has to be abandoned due to the complainant having to pay costs to restore the company.’

Publicly available documents showed that the directors had both made a solemn declaration that the company has discharged all its debts and liabilities.

Mr Taylor said Mr Romagnosi’s tribunal claim was clearly a contingent liability which the Haricharans were fully aware of and still continued to participate in proceedings during the winding up process and attempted to do so even after the company was dissolved.

The public documents also indicate that the company was solvent when it was dissolved and so there would be funds available to satisfy a judgment.

Mr Taylor said he hoped that in the circumstances Caffee Roundhouse Lt can be restored to the public register without the complainant having to pay the costs of doing so.

A new hearing date for the tribunal case will be set when the company is restored to the register.

Mr Taylor said when the hearing is reconvened the tribunal will consider the issue of wasted costs being made against the respondent.