Discrimination | Should vegans be exempt from tea rounds?

The age-old tradition of taking turns to make tea for your team is a great way of creating a community among your colleagues. However, the rise in popularity of plant-based diets has raised concerns over this traditional practice.

According to Lawyer Alex Monaco, vegans in the workplace should be exempt from tea-making duties as putting them in a position in which they have to handle cow’s milk could be classified as discrimination.

Monaco’s claims are part of a bigger campaign that is currently being put to lawmakers in the UK to “outlaw vegan discrimination at work”. The case claims that veganism should be treated in the same manner as religious beliefs, and therefore should be covered under the Equality Act of 2010.

Alex Monaco, of Monaco Solicitors, told the Daily Mail: “If you’re Jewish or Muslim and told to get a round of bacon sandwiches in, no one would bat an eyelid if you refused. If you’re vegan and you refuse to buy a pint of milk to make tea because you believe that the dairy industry is torturing cows, then you would be laughed out of the kitchen.”