Woman's 150,000 pounds for sacking

AN ARMY recruiting officer dismissed when she became pregnant yesterday won more than pounds 150,000 in damages.

A tribunal in Leeds ruled that Katrina Kay, of Bardsey, West Yorkshire, who now has two daughters, was dismissed illegally in 1983 after being told she would have stayed in the Army for her full term of 22 years but was forced out after just seven.

The tribunal chairman, Anthony Morris, said Mrs Kay's case was unique in that it involved a female army recruiter who was dismissed for being pregnant even though her job was compatible with being a mother.

He also attacked 'ill-informed' newspaper pressure to scale down compensation to servicewomen sacked through pregnancy. The amount awarded was pounds 110,000 but will rise to nearly pounds 160,000 with pension rights and tax.