A WOMAN who claimed she was sacked from Malton Bacon Factory because she was pregnant has lost an industrial tribunal case.

The tribunal panel decided unanimously to dismiss Ann Bryan's claims that she was unfairly dismissed and the victim of sexual discrimination.

Mrs Bryan, 41, of George Cartwright Close, Norton, lost her job as a factory operative on December 18 on the grounds of incompetence during a three-day spell working in the factory's joint department.

She learned of her dismissal during a period of sickness due to back and pelvic pain and two days after producing a sick note which confirmed she was pregnant.

Mrs Bryan told the tribunal in Leeds she had not directly told her managers she was pregnant as she feared she would lose her job.Andrew Mitchell, her manager at the time, said Mrs Bryan was dismissed because her probationary period was up and she had not performed to the required level.

Mr Mitchell also cited her poor relationships with other staff, an altercation in the car park with a colleague and her inability to carry out duties on the factory's machines.

Tribunal panel chairman Peter Hildebrand said in his report that the factory had succeeded in showing Mrs Bryan was dismissed on grounds of capability and her poor attendance record.

"The tribunal did not consider that the applicant's pregnancy played any part in the decision which Mr Mitchell made in deciding whether to dismiss the applicant at the conclusion of her probationary period. Mr Mitchell did not know the applicant was pregnant."

But Mr Hildebrand said the panel found it unusual that Mr Mitchell received an employee on transfer from another department when she was three-quarters of the way through her probationary period.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.