A vegan Subway employee has been awarded nearly £13,000 in compensation after an employment tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed for raising concerns about food safety and harassment. Kady Reilly, a mother of two, faced repeated taunts from her line manager Himanshu Lahar, who would wave meat under her nose and urge her to 'eat it', the tribunal heard.
Ms Reilly began working at a Subway franchise in Glasgow in August 2020. She alleged that Mr Lahar made disparaging comments about her appearance, called her a 'science experiment', and told her to 'eat like a man, walk like a bull'. He also served dairy cheese to vegan customers when the plant-based alternative ran out, left food out for hours, and failed to provide a sanitary bin in the staff toilet.
After her complaints to the franchise owner, RT Management Bridgeton Limited, were ignored, Ms Reilly contacted Environmental Health in September 2020. The inspection led to improvements in Covid-19 measures and the provision of a sanitary bin. However, she was dismissed shortly after, prompting her to take the case to an employment tribunal.
The tribunal found that Ms Reilly was dismissed because of her protected disclosures, and that Mr Lahar's behaviour amounted to harassment under the Equality Act, as veganism is considered a philosophical belief. She was awarded £12,959.39 for unfair dismissal and injury to feelings.
The panel heard that Mr Lahar had also changed date labels on out-of-date lettuce and refused to discard meatballs left out for ten hours. Ms Reilly, who suffers from long-term health problems and carries an Epi-pen, described her employment as 'a really poor experience' and 'very stressful'.
