Is Veganism a religion? An employment tribunal is having to decide

A Vegan claiming unfair dismissal from the League Against Cruel Sports is claiming that, while Ted Baker is in the middle of a controversy over hugs. Employers that treat employees with respect needn't fear the law, however

Campaigner: Jordi Casamitjana has been vegan for 17 years (Diane Bartlett)

A man taking the League Against Cruel Sports to an employment tribunal claiming ethical veganism is akin to a religion? It probably had Britain’s sizeable corps of Mr Angrys spluttering into their cornflakes.

Jordi Casamitjana, the vegan in question, says he was dismissed after disclosing the League invested its pension funds in firms involved in animal testing. He claims his treatment amounts to discrimination because of his passionate vegan beliefs.

The world’s gone mad, I tell you, mad!

But, hang on just a minute. Religion is one of nine protected characteristics covered by the 2010 Equality Act. As such, it stands alongside age, race, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, and disability.

The act makes it unlawful for an employer to treat an employee less favourably because of their beliefs, in other words, to discriminate against them.

They could not, for example, relegate people who believe a man once turned water into wine and was later raised from the dead, to a separate canteen.

Now if someone firmly, and sincerely, believes animals are our partners and friends and that any and all forms of exploitation are immoral, to an extent that goes beyond a dietary choice and amounts to an article of faith, couldn’t that fall under the heading of a religion?

If so, shouldn’t they be entitled to the same protections? Who gets to decide what is and isn’t a religion anyway?

It isn’t set out in the law. So in this case, it’s down to the tribunal’s members.

You have to feel a bit for them. They are going to have to rule on what amounts to a matter of philosophy, and wherever they land they’re probably going to upset people.

Can you imagine the reaction of employers if they say Casamitjana’s beliefs should be treated in the same way that religions are treated?

'We’re already drowning in red tape, and now this???'

It's worth pointing out that the case comes a matter a weeks after the editor of Waitrose Food magazine, William Sitwell, quit in the wake of his suggesting a series on "killing vegans, one by one" in response to a pitch from a freelancer.

Matters of employment generally are high on the agenda today.

You may have heard that Ted Baker, the fashion house, has ordered an independent investigation after anonymous staff members compiled a petition calling for an end to unwelcome hugs, and other behaviour mega bucks founder Ray Kelvin has allegedly engaged in

Employment law, however, isn’t as onerous as some would have you believe. Britons have less rights at work than in many other countries. Employers that treat their staff with respect shouldn’t fall afoul of those that they do have.

Here’s the thing with our vegan. Whether his beliefs amount to a religion or not is one thing. It’s quite another as to whether they played a role in his dismissal and whether or not it was fair or unfair. The tribunal’s members may find the latter part of what they’re being asked to rule upon a relative breeze by comparison.