A TOP saleswoman returned from a sunshine holiday she had won as a reward for her hard work, to be given the sack by her bosses.

She said she was given the push because she was pregnant. Her bosses claimed she wasn't doing her job properly.

Now 29-year-old Lisa Hickson, who has since given birth to a son, Yvan, has won her claim for unfair dismissal against her employers, the Lancashire Evening Post.

The Manchester tribunal ruled she had been sacked because she was pregnant.

In their report, the Tribunal said Lisa 'was wrongly dismissed and the reason for the dismissal was connected with her pregnancy, within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996'.

Lisa Hickson, a sales representative who had been awarded the title Salesperson of the Month in December last year, was five and a half months pregnant when she was given her marching orders.

She was told the shock news on the day she returned from a trip to Tenerife - a holiday she had won for her success as a sales person. She received an undisclosed out-of-court settlement.

Lisa told her bosses she was pregnant in December and she was sacked in February. She said: "I couldn't believe they had the audacity to claim I wasn't doing my job properly.

"I really enjoyed my work and could do it blindfolded. I had a very successful track record."

Lisa immediately started legal proceedings. Little Yvan was born in June.

Now Lisa, from Lytham, wants to put the nightmare behind her. She said: "I'm so glad it's over. It's been very difficult. Justice has been done and it may stop it happening to someone else. It was a real David and Goliath situation.

"Pregnancy isn't an illness. Your brain doesn't drop out when you conceive. I'm glad I found the strength to go through with the case."

Lisa plans to study science at university and become a paramedic.

Solicitor Mike Blood of Manchester-based Peter Rickson and Partners said: "Lisa has been treated shabbily. I'm very pleased she's won her case."

A spokesman from Lancashire Evening Post Ltd said: "The decision has been made and the matter resolved. There is no further comment to make."

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