Restaurant allegedly sacks employee for refusing to go vegan

Iceland's Glo restaurant has reportedly fired a waitress for not being vegan. Photo / Instagram

A restaurant has apparently sacked a worker who refused to convert to veganism.

Gló restaurant, located in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, is one of the best-known in the country and has a reputation as a clean-eating establishment, with a focus on vegetarian meals — although chicken and dairy products have long featured on the menu.

However, it is preparing to reinvent itself as a vegan restaurant, and as a result of the restaurant's transformation, a member of the kitchen staff was reportedly sacked earlier this month.

According to The Reykjavik Grapevine, reporters from the Stundin newspaper obtained the unnamed employee's letter of dismissal, which stated "the restaurant is in the process of becoming a vegan restaurant, and it therefore requires members of staff in the kitchen to be vegan, too."

Gló owner Sólveig Eiriksdóttir confirmed to Stundin that the restaurant would soon become vegan.

"That has been the idea for a long time. So the only thing we ask of our staff is that they have an interest in veganism," Eiriksdóttir said.

However, she also told the publication no specific dietary requirements were needed to work in her restaurant, instead insisting the letter had been worded in a misleading way.

The Reykjavik Grapevine reports that Iceland has been cracking down on workers' rights and discrimination in the workplace in recent years, with gender discrimination at work strictly outlawed.

However, the Gló case is the first to highlight potential discrimination based on dietary choices.

Veganism is a growing trend worldwide and is especially common in the United Kingdom, with the BBC reporting the number of vegans had jumped from 150,000 in 2006 to 542,000 in 2016.

The trend is growing in Australia as well, with the number of Aussies eating a mainly vegetarian diet rising by over 23 per cent in the last four years, according to Roy Morgan research.

Animals Australia has also claimed veganism was the fastest growing food movement in the world.