Research Guides: Animal Law: Veganism and Discrimination

Veganism and Discrimination

Books

Que veulent les véganes? : la cause animale, de Platon au mouvement antispéciste by Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert et Alexia Renard
Call Number: HV4708 .R46 2021Y ROBA
Publication Date: 2021
Open Access
(V)égaux : vers un véganisme intersectionnel by Marilou Boutet (dir)
Call Number: HV4708 .V44 2021Y ROBA
Publication Date: 2021

Book Chapters

A Single Black Bean: Discrimination and the Protection of Ethical Vegans in Canada by Krystal-Anne Roussal & Camille Labchuk
Publication Date: 2021
In Jeanette Rowley et al, Law and Veganism: International Perspectives on the Human Right to Freedom of Conscience
Available online to the U of T community

Journal Articles

Le véganisme au Québec : tensions à gauche et alliances en construction by Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert
(2023) 30:3 Bulletin d'histoire politique 155
Open Access

Leading Cases

Knauff v Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2025 ONSC 786
Human Rights Law
(2025) The Divisional Court of Ontario dismissed the case of the vegan firefighter
Adam Knauff for mootness. His former employer took the position that the case was moot given a settlement agreement. Mr. Knauff’s lawyers argued that the agreement reserved the possibility of judicial review and there was a live legal issue: whether ethical veganism can be considered a creed. The Court agreed with the employer that the controversy between the parties that affected their rights had been resolved and that courts should not provide opinions in response to “hypothetical or academic problems.”
Knauff v Ontario (Natural Resources and Forestry), 2023 HRTO 1729
Human Rights Law
(2023) The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario denied Adam Knauff's discrimination claim against his employer for being denied vegan food while fighting wildfires in British Columbia. Knauff faced disciplinary actions after expressing frustration over inadequate vegan options. The case questioned whether veganism qualifies as a “creed,” a protected ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Although the Tribunal acknowledged non-religious creed protection, it rejected ethical veganism for not addressing “ultimate questions of human existence beyond [humans’ relationships with other animals and the natural environment] or the existence or nonexistence of a higher or different order of existence and/or a Creator.”
Mr J Casamitjana Costa v The League Against Cruel Sports: 3331129/2018
Employmnet Law (United Kingdom)
(2020) The UK Employment Tribunal ruled that ethical veganism qualifies as a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act. Jordi Casamitjana, an ethical vegan, claimed he was unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about his employer’s pension investments conflicting with vegan ethics. The tribunal found that ethical veganism was Casamitjana’s genuinely held belief and is worthy of respect in a democratic society. The ruling only addressed belief protection, not the fairness of his dismissal, which was to be determined in a later hearing.
Maurice v Canada (Attorney General), 2002 FCT 69
Constitutional Law
(2002) Jack Maurice, an inmate at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), was previously provided a vegetarian diet because of his membership in the Hare Krishna faith. Following his renunciation of the religion he was repeatedly denied his continued requests for a vegetarian diet, citing that special diets were only permitted for religious or medical reasons. The Federal Court ruled that CSC’s policy was inconsistent, as freedom of conscience under Section 2(a) of the Charter should be equally protected as religious beliefs. The Court ordered CSC to reconsider its decision and provide Maurice with a vegetarian diet, awarding him $1,560 in costs.

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Veganism and Discrimination

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