Undeclared employees, “counterfeit” tobacco… A shisha bar in Hauts-de-Seine automatically closed by the courts

See my news
Follow Paris News

The summary judge of administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise has validated the administrative closure of a hookah bar of Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), which the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture accused of a whole series of failings.

“Undeclared” personnel, potentially “counterfeit” tobacco

On July 15, 2024, state services had in fact closed L’Impérial Lounge, located avenue Henri-Barbussefor forty-five days: he was accused, among other things, of having employed “undeclared” staff and of possessing potentially “counterfeit” tobacco.

But “the facts […] had ceased on the date of the decision, replied the company’s lawyer before the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise. The employee mentioned […] is declared in the workforce and it pays Urssaf the contributions relating to this employment. » The tobacco which had been discovered inside the shisha bar was also “not counterfeit”, he assured the judge in summary proceedings to suspend this “disproportionate” decision.

For the rest, “if the manager did not have a valid operating license […]he justifies a new one, valid until February 12, 2034,” continued the council. “The entire surface […] is not used as a smoking room”, he reassured again, and the video camera present inside the establishment is “dummy”. “If a customer had a handgun on him during the check, this circumstance does not fall under the responsibility of the manager,” finally concluded the lawyer of the “lounge bar”.

“Loss of customers”

Under these conditions, there was therefore “urgency” to suspend this administrative closure: it “prevents” the company from “covering its costs in the short term” and exposes it to “a loss of customers”. Above all, this prefectural decision “seriously damages the image and reputation” of the establishment since it “requires it to affix an annex to the storefront announcing the administrative closure”.

“It is up to the summary judge […] to assess concretely, taking into account the justifications provided by the applicant, whether the effects of this decision are likely to characterize an emergency justifying that, without waiting for the judgment of the application on the merits, the execution of the decision be suspended”, begins by generally recalling the summary judgment judge of the Cergy-Pontoise administrative court, in an order of August 20, 2024 which has just been made public.

“No accounting documents”

However, in this case, “if the company maintains that the contested decision exposes it to a loss of customers and damage to its reputation, such allegations are not established”, rules the magistrate. “Neither the accountant’s certificate nor the company’s allegations are accompanied by any accounting document, in particular the balance sheets and income statements, allowing the overall situation of the company to be assessed with certainty” .

The emergency judge therefore considered that there was no “urgency” to rule insofar as the decision does not compromise “financial balance” of society. The case will be retried by the same administrative court, this time brought together by a panel of three judges, within eighteen months to two years.

If L’Impérial Lounge were to succeed in its case, it would be entitled to file a new appeal against the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture to be compensated for its various “damages”.

/MJ (PressPepper)

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.