Ethical Veganism a Protected Characteristic

Ethical Veganism

On 2nd January 2020 an Employment Tribunal in Norwich upheld a Claimant's case of "Ethical Veganism" being a philosophical belief so it was added to the list of protected characteristics that fall into the Equality Act 2010.  For an Ethical Vegan, it's more than a diet choice, they believe it wrong for animals to be exploited for clothing, food or any other purpose.

‍A Protected philosophical belief

As a protected characteristic it means someone practicing that belief cannot be discriminated against because of their belief.  Other examples of characteristics that are protected that most people are familiar with are race, age, sex and religious belief.

In this particular case, the employee who was employed as a Zoologist, claimed he had been dismissed because of concerns he had raised that the company were investing in companies that were testing on animals.  Whilst the Employment Tribunal are yet to decide if he was unfairly dismissed, the decision has been made that his belief in ethical veganism was a protected characteristic. The case is still ongoing as the claimant was dismissed for gross misconduct, therefore there will be a further hearing as to whether the case was lawful.

Review Human Resources Policies

The case demonstrates how employers have difficulty in identifying what may be a protected philosophical belief and what isn't. As employers it would be prudent to review your equality and dignity at work policies (if you have both) to see if you do have any ethical vegan employees (which is very likely as there are around 60,000 in the UK), are they affected by your businesses current processes?

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