Tycoon's husband denies forcing pregnant supervisor to quit

THE husband of lingerie entrepreneur Michelle Mone yesterday denied forcing a supervisor out of her job after she became a single mother.

Michael Mone, managing director of MJM International - which designs, manufactures and supplies lingerie and swimwear - rejected suggestions that the company tried to "weed out'' workers planning to have children at interview stage by asking them their family intentions.

The company, headed by Mr Mone and his wife Michelle, pictured, has been accused of sex discrimination by call centre employee Claire Woods, 28, who claims she was offered a choice between demotion and a pay cut or an increase in hours after she said she was expecting her second child.

Miss Woods further claimed Mrs Mone's attitude towards her then became less friendly.

MJM, based in Govan, Glasgow, deny her claims. Mr Mone said they "bent over backwards'' to accommodate her wishes.

Miss Woods earlier told a Glasgow employment tribunal how her hours as call centre supervisor were reduced from 35 a week to 32.5 when she asked Michelle Mone for a change to accommodate her childcare responsibilities as she had split with her partner. They are now reconciled.

Her reduced hours meant she finished work at 3:30pm each day. The call centre, dealing with direct customer sales, was open until 6pm.

Mr Mone said: "We found that customer service levels had dropped. We wanted Miss Woods to cover that or we would have to find someone to fill the gap.''

He added: "We have bent over backwards in trying to accommodate Miss Woods and her family position. We were not trying to change things and make her take a pay cut. We wanted to go back to what we knew was working for the business, going back from the trial period to the full-time hours she had been working before.''

Mr Mone said most of their workers were of child-bearing age but they couldn't discriminate against them by asking if they were able to have children. "There is only one we can say is definitely not of child bearing age and that is my mother-in-law.''

Miss Woods, who has moved to Portree on Skye, claims she was constructively and unfairly dismissed and a victim of sex discrimination. She wants the tribunal to award compensation. The case continues in September.