Worker suffers racial bias for his beard

Mohsin Mohamed is the first person to claim religious discrimination at Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains.

Mohsin Mohamed, 22, has claimed he was sacked for refusing to shave off his eight-inch long beard. The first person to claim religious discrimination, the right given to workers last December, Mohsin said he had been humiliated by bosses at Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains.

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They demanded that he must shave off his beard or lose his job as an assistant at the busy Euston Station in London. Mohsin claimed his religion required that the beard must at least be four inch long. But just a month after he started his £17,000 a year job, manager David Adams, it is alleged, told Mohsin to trim his beard. He replied that nobody tells Richard Branson to shave his beard off. "Why should I have to get rid of it?"

Virgin told the Tribunal, where the case is being tried, that Mohsin was fired for poor performance and not because of his long beard. The company also claimed they respected Mohsin's religious faith and allowed him to wear a turban in the company's colours.

Mohsin could, sources said, win over £20,000 in compensation. A decision in the case is being awaited by most companies as nearly all of them have employees from ethnic minority communities. The Sikhs won the right to wear their turban and beard in police and army a long time ago.