Jordi Casamitjana vegan tribunal a 'victory for animal protection'.

An ethical vegan who was unfairly dismissed said his tribunal case was a "victory for animal protection".

Jordi Casamitjana has agreed a settlement with anti-hunting charity the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) after he was sacked for sharing concerns about pension funds being invested in firms testing on animals.

The tribunal saw LACS concede he was not wrong in sharing his objections.

The hearing gave ethical veganism protection under the Equality Act 2010.

Mr Casamitjana, 55, said: "I am extremely happy with the conclusion that we have secured. The case has established that ethical vegans are protected from discrimination, and I have received the acknowledgement I sought that my dismissal was based on my ethical veganism, and was not justified or justifiable."

Mr Casamitjana, who lives in London, had argued the charity fired him because of his ethical veganism stance, after he discovered it invested pension funds in firms which carried out animal testing and compromised the environment.

After his bosses failed to carry out a promise not to invest his contributions in the funds in 2017, Mr Casamitjana informed colleagues about the investments and was sacked for gross misconduct.

LAC had argued it was "factually wrong" to link Mr Casamitjana's dismissal to his veganism.

The charity did not contest that ethical veganism should be protected.

In January the Watford Tribunal Centre judge made a landmark ruling which said ethical veganism was a philosophical belief, and therefore a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

It means vegans should be entitled to the same legal protections in British workplaces as those who hold religious beliefs.

Mr Casamitjana supports a range of ethical and animal rights causes

In 2016 Mr Casamitjana was working as LACS head of policy and research, where he learnt its pension funds were invested in pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, oil company Royal Dutch Shell and tobacco companies.

In his statement following the result, Mr Casamitjana noted the LACS had conceded his actions were "genuine and correct".

Since raising his concerns, LACS has changed its pensions policy to make them ethical.

The charity said in a statement: "We are grateful to Mr Casamitjana for having raised the issue of pensions to us, which allowed us to change our default pension fund to an ethical one closer to our values."

A vegan is someone who does not eat or use animal products.

Some people choose to simply follow a vegan diet - that is, a plant-based diet avoiding all animal products such as dairy, eggs, honey, meat and fish.

But ethical vegans try to exclude all forms of animal exploitation from their lifestyle. For instance, they avoid wearing or buying clothing made from wool or leather, or toiletries from companies that carry out animal testing.

• Why are more people going vegan?