N M Hosie (sitting alone)10 Mr P Khatri-Chhetri v Gurkha Kitchen — 2017

At a preliminary hearing in Edinburgh on 16 August 2017, the tribunal recorded complaints of unlawful deduction of wages, outstanding holiday and sick pay, and notice pay. No ET3 had been lodged. The tribunal also noted that the respondent employer was Gurkha Kitchen Restaurant Limited, trading as Gurkha Kitchen.

The claimant had started work on 15 June 2015 as restaurant manager. After about three months the restaurant closed because of water damage to the premises. The claimant assisted with an insurance claim for loss of income, but that claim was unsuccessful. By the time repairs were complete and the premises were ready to reopen around January 2017, the company had no funds and had not traded since September 2015.

The tribunal found that the water damage occurred through neither party's fault and that it made the employment contract impossible to perform. It held that the contract was frustrated and ended automatically by operation of law, so the claimant was not entitled to the sums he sought under the contract. The claimant also said the respondent company had ceased trading and had no assets, and he told the tribunal that he wished to withdraw his claim and was agreeable to dismissal. The judgment accordingly dismissed the claim.