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Won Tribunal But They Won't Pay
I had worked at a bar - let's nickname it "Tribe Bar" - as the head doorman for over ten years when in August 2010 a new owner came in - I'll nickname them "City Leisure". There was one director, though his company secretary (who had previously co-directed various companies with him) later came on board. All the staff were kept on bar me. Because I worked via a management company, City Leisure assumed I wasn't entitled to any rights, so got someone cheaper in. The first Tribunal was to decide who my employer was at the time of my dismissal. City Leisure didn't show up - but only to buy time. They came up with a cockamamie reason that the judge accepted, and so on to Tribunal two. Here, it was decided there had indeed been a TUPE transfer. During the third and supposedly final Tribunal - which because of a few cancellations due to the opposition again buying time, didn't take place until March 2012 - City Leisure were found culpable and, a month later, were ordered to pay a total of almost £17,000. The thing is, they were granted leave to appeal on a technical issue, and so a final Tribunal took place over a year later (more time-buying from the opposition), April 2013. I won outright this time. But here's the problem: they've not paid a penny because they managed to get themselves struck off Companies House. According to my brief, this means I'll have to go down the civil route and "that will cost thousands and won't be worth it". I contacted Companies House, who told me the law was that City Leisure was supposed to have told me/my brief that they were applying to be struck off before it happened, and also inform them, Companies House, that they were involved in a court case. They did neither. Apparently, they were struck off October 2011 (the first I heard of it was a letter to my brief from City Leisure in April 2012 saying they had sold the bar - at the time my brief said we should just carry on with the case and see what happens). The 'new' owner of the bar was "Tribe Bar Ltd" - its sole director a RELATIVE of one of City Leisure's directors! Since then, I've checked with licensing. They tell me that, although Tribe Bar Ltd is according to Company Check still the owner of Tribe Bar, the licensee has gone from being Tribe Bar Ltd to "Nelson Ltd" (again,my nickname), which is owned by - surprise, surprise - one of the directors of City Leisure. There's further proof that the people from City Leisure continued to, and still do, run/own Tribe Bar, despite their claim to have sold it - not only is one of the directors constantly there running it, but (a) he actually gave an interview online as the company owner past the supposedly sold date, and (b) other companies are registered to City Leisure's directors at Tribe Bar's address. How annoying that Companies House told me words to the effect of, "We just take people at face value when they want to be struck off, we don't investigate" - thanks Companies House. That ridiculous policy lost me £17,000.
Here are my questions:
1) When my brief says that it will cost me thousands to take these people to civil court, does he mean mostly in his fees? Can I do this on the cheap myself?
2) Since the directors of City Leisure have clearly broken Companies House rules, if I should prove it to them, does this mean City Leisure will be put back on the register? And if so, doesn't this mean that they will have to pay me my money, as though they were never struck off?
3) Although the actual decision to award me damages came after the strike off and supposed new company ownership, since all the staff stayed on (and hence another TUPE transfer), isn't Tribe Bar Ltd, the 'new' owner, libel for the £17,000?
4) What should I do now?
Here are my questions:
1) When my brief says that it will cost me thousands to take these people to civil court, does he mean mostly in his fees? Can I do this on the cheap myself?
2) Since the directors of City Leisure have clearly broken Companies House rules, if I should prove it to them, does this mean City Leisure will be put back on the register? And if so, doesn't this mean that they will have to pay me my money, as though they were never struck off?
3) Although the actual decision to award me damages came after the strike off and supposed new company ownership, since all the staff stayed on (and hence another TUPE transfer), isn't Tribe Bar Ltd, the 'new' owner, libel for the £17,000?
4) What should I do now?
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