A Jewish woman has won £16,000 damages from a travel firm after it rejected her job application because her religion prevents her from working Saturdays.

Aurelie Fhima sent her CV to Manchester-based Travel Jigsaw and got a face-to-face interview.

But her application was turned down after she revealed she observes Shabbat – the Jewish day of rest which lasts from sundown on Friday until sunset on Saturday and prevents work of any kind.

Bosses at Travel Jigsaw sent her a letter after the interview which said: “After careful consideration we cannot offer you a position at this time. We are still looking for people who are flexible enough to work Saturdays.”

Ms Fhima, 23, asked the firm to review its decision and, when it refused, launched legal action – claiming indirect discrimination on grounds of religion.

Employment tribunal judges found in her favour – awarding almost £8,000 for loss of earnings, £7,500 for injury to feelings and £1,200 in fees.

Ms Fhima, who lives off Bury New Road, in Salford, was represented in the case by Manchester’s Kuits Solicitors.

Kevin McKenna, head of employment at Kuits, said: “This case serves as an important reminder to employers of the obligations they have to job applicants – not just their employees. It also shows that many large employers still fail to understand the law surrounding discrimination.”

The tribunal heard how, in May last year, French-speaking Ms Fhima received a call from the operations recruiter at Travel Jigsaw after sending in her CV. He explained the shifts were between 7am and 11am from Monday to Saturday but employees always got two days a week off.

When she later challenged the decision to turn down her application, the firm claimed she lied about her ability to work Saturdays during the phone conversation and confessed to the lie during the face-to-face interview. Ms Fhima denied this and said the way the company acted was ‘devastating’.

A spokesman for the business said: “The company is extremely disappointed with the judgement in this case that was brought by an unsuccessful job applicant, and in the way in which the case was presented to the tribunal. Travel Jigsaw employs an extremely diverse workforce with colleagues representing 65 nationalities.”