A vegan claims she was denied a catering job because she refused to wear leather shoes.

Dominika Piasecka got through the interview stages to become a part time catering assistant at the University of Salford’s Media City campus .

But she says on her induction day she was given an ultimatum: wear leather or don’t have the job.

The 21-year-old said she felt insulted by the uniform policy and claims the catering company refused to offer any alternatives.

Catering jobs at the university are contracted out to Chartwells.

When contacted by the M.E.N. a spokesman for Chartwells claimed they do allow non-leather shoes to be worn - but Dominika says they never offered this to her.

She said: “Everything was going really well until they brought out the uniform which contained leather shoes. I politely said I was vegan and that I couldn’t wear dead animals on my feet.

“The woman carrying out the inductions said I had to wear them for health and safety reasons and I would either have to wear the shoes or not take the job.

“I was really shocked. You can’t discriminate against people for choosing not to wear dead animals on their feet.

“I can understand what they said about health and safety as there is hot food around and it could easily be spilled, but I have my own protective shoes I wear for another catering job which are fine.

“My manager there does not have a problem so I don’t see why it is a problem at the university.

“They weren’t rude to me but still by saying I have to wear leather to carry out such a job is completely wrong.”

Dominika said she understood serving meat would be involved in the role and accepted this as people’s personal choice - but said actually wearing leather felt ‘wrong’ to her.

“The company policy needs to be changed,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Chartwells, the catering company at the university, said: “A position was offered to this candidate and she took part in a routine induction day before beginning her role.

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“By the end of the induction she explained that she no longer wanted the position and it was our understanding that this was due to the general meat-handling required.

“We have a clear policy on footwear for our colleagues and an alternative, non-leather product is available when requested.

"We’re more than happy to pick up with this candidate to discuss the footwear options and future employment in more detail should she wish to get in touch.”