A Muslim worker who was sacked after he went on a trip to Mecca has won his case for unfair dismissal on grounds of religious belief.
Mohammed Khan, 43, used holiday time and unpaid leave from his job cleaning buses in Bradford to spend six weeks in the holy city last winter.
A tribunal awarded Mr Khan £10,000 compensation but he may receive less as the employer is in administration.
He said he asked for the leave twice and believed it had been approved.
Exciting opportunity
Mr Khan had worked for NIC Hygiene Ltd since 1996 but was dismissed from his £8,000-a-year job in March 2004 for gross misconduct
"I was so excited at having the opportunity of going on a Hajj," he said.
"I had a wonderful experience and when I returned to England I was so pleased I had made a pilgrimage. I was not expecting to be dismissed."
He decided to use his holiday entitlement to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca as part of his Muslim faith.
Lack of response
At first he did not receive a response from his bosses about his proposed trip and his union advised him to put in a written request.
Again he did not get a response and his manager said if he heard nothing he could assume it was all right to go, the tribunal heard.
Anna Power, Mr Khan's lawyer who represented him at the employment tribunal, said the company had been found to have unfairly dismissed her client and to have breached the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.
"It is vitally important that companies do not discriminate against employees on grounds of their religion and this case should serve to warn employers in the region that there is no room for such discrimination in today's workplace," she added.