A vegan is convinced that their way of life requires some type of legal coverage has been sued before the british courts to claim protection against dismissal that it considered discriminatory. The case brought by Jordi Casamitjana, a vegan for 17 years, before a labor tribunal will attempt to resolve for the first time in the Uk, if veganism is a “philosophical belief” worthy of being equated to other religions or simply an option used in this case as an excuse by the prosecutor.
The lawsuit filed by Casamitjana in a court of Norwich (east of England) says that he was fired from his job at the League Against Cruel Sports —an organization fighting sports such as fox hunting or, beyond the borders of britain, the bullfighting— for his declared convictions to be vegan. The former worker of this organization was planted to their heads, according to the summary, to discover that the pension plan in the group were companies that perform animal experiments.
Jordi Casamitjana.
The company denies the allegations and argues in his defence of the character erratic of his now exempleado. A spokesman for the organization has insisted in his defence, without any of the veganism and other forms of rejecting animal exploitation. The case, they argue, affects an employee who is not fulfilled with his job and now relies on a supposed loyalty of their beliefs to resolve a complaint of workplace.
The lawsuit is based on discrimination, which ensures that was the object for its declared veganism and intended to force a change in the Law on Equal British to incorporate this philosophy or way of life. The law, passed in 2010, defines “religion or belief” as one of the nine “protected features” that include race, sex, pregnancy and maternity as factors against any type of discrimination.
Casamitjana exhibited before the judges in a hearing held this Thursday its resistance to use the public transport —the private car was never an option— to avoid “collisions” with insects or birds. These and other animal species, are victims, according to the complainant, of what today we call development.
The plaintiff also declares a “companion animal”, which denies the label of “companion animals” and is allergic to the zoos or to any other form of “animal exploitation”. His lawyer, Peter Daly, has argued that “veganism is ethical is a philosophical belief that has the growing support in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.”
What decide the judges of Norwich in the first instance (always pending a further appeal) shall be imposed for the activists of the cause a reference, taking as the ultimate goal of the demand Casamitjana the possibility of establishing that any action which contravenes the veganism would have to be the subject of a complaint of discrimination.
veganism rejects the consumption of all food and products of animal origin, including items made with fur or honey, as well as the use of animals in pharmacological experiments. It is “a philosophy and a belief system,” according to the complaint. Casamitjana has gotten 8.700 pounds (10,000 euros) through a campaign of crowdfunding to finance the process. If it succeeds, the Uk will be the first major country to accept specific rights for the vegan.
