A YOUNG mother who claimed she took two days off to care for her sick baby and was sacked by bosses at a Burnley firm has won her unfair dismissal fight.

Single mother Ingrida Rimkute, who worked at Pennine Print in Widow Hill Road, told a Manchester hearing that there was no-one else to look after her young son, last March.

And she says if she had remained in work, while her baby was ill, she would have been too distracted to concentrate, the tribunal heard.

Miss Rimkute, from Nelson, accused Pennine Print of unfair dismissal on the grounds of sex discrimination and her status as a young mother.

The tribunal heard that her partner worked long night shifts and would care for the baby while she worked, for 16 hours per week, Monday to Thursday.

But because the baby was ill, and Russian national Miss Rimkute took responsibility for childcare matters, she had taken emergency leave to care for him.

She says that she called the firm and spoke to another colleague, who also spoke Russian, to inform them of her position, and to explain the reason for her absence to management.

But in March this year she was told she was being sacked for gross misconduct. An appeal letter which she lodged was also dismissed.

"My role was not one which was central to the day-to-day running of the business," she added.

The tribunal was resolved halfway through the hearing when the parties agreed to a settlement, the terms of which remain confidential.

Mr J Walling, the firm’s managing director had denied that she was fired because of such an absence.

He said Miss Rimkute had been given repeated reprimands about her late arrival, including an official written warning.

She was eventually sacked for gross misconduct after taking an unauthorised absence.

Mr Walling says that no mention was ever made of the need for emergency child care arrangements. He has admitted that no disciplinary hearing was held over the dismissal but insists that the outcome would still have been the same regardless.

The tribunal heard Mr Walling and Miss Rimkute usually communicated through his Russian girlfriend, as her standard of spoken English was not always sufficient to make herself understood.