Vegan sues charity over pension

A vegan who claims he was sacked by the League Against Cruel Sports over his ‘philosophical beliefs’ has told a tribunal the charity sent his pension contributions against his wishes to ‘companies which hurt animals and the environment’

A vegan who claims he was sacked by the League Against Cruel Sports over his ‘philosophical beliefs’ has told a tribunal the charity sent his pension contributions against his wishes to ‘companies which hurt animals and the environment’.

Jordi Casamitjana alleges he was unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about his employer’s retirement fund arrangements, Watford Tribunal Centre heard.

In a witness statement, the 55-year-old zoologist said he joined the LACS in 2016 as its head of policy and research.

As an ‘ethical vegan’, Mr Casamitjana shuns new banknotes because they contain animal fat and will not wear clothes made from wool or use products tested on animals.

He avoids holding leather straps or sitting on leather seats — and prefers to walk rather than catch a bus to avoid ‘accidental crashes’ with insects or birds.

But Mr Casamitjana, from London, discovered that his pension money was being invested in pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, oil company Royal Dutch Shell and tobacco firms.

In January 2017, he said he asked for his payments to be stopped and was told it would be arranged. But by October he found that his contributions had not altered and he had personally contributed £1,766.

Mr Casamitjana said, I was shocked. It meant that, for nearly a year, I had been contributing to the financial wellbeing of companies whose business includes the infliction of pain on animals. It was grossly against my core beliefs.

Mr Casamitjana said that he alerted colleagues where their pension contributions were being invested ‘because many of them are vegan and would not knowingly invest in companies that hurt animals’.

Last month an employment tribunal judge ruled that ‘ethical veganism’ is a ‘philosophical belief’ and therefore protected under the Equality Act 2010.

Another tribunal will decide whether Mr Casamitjana was discriminated against and victimised.

The LACS claims Mr Casamitjana was dismissed for gross misconduct after he disobeyed management instructions and stepped into the role of a financial adviser by emailing staff about pension plans.

The hearing, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.