A woman who won a victimisation claim against a top city law firm is set to challenge Sir Alan Sugar when the irascible boss renews his search for an apprentice.

The entrepreneur was criticised for arguing that equality laws make it more difficult for women to find jobs. Last year the Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins, a mother of two, walked out of the BBC One show when Sir Alan questioned her commitment.

In the new series, Sir Alan is faced with Shazia Wahab, 35, who pursued a victimisation test case against Allen & Overy. Ms Wahab, an IT project manager, sought £1 million in punitive damages from the firm, claiming sexual, racial and employment-status discrimination.

She won on one count at an employment tribunal in 2003, after being told that bringing the discrimination claim would be professional suicide.

Sir Alan is said not to be sympathetic when the subject is raised during the battle for a £100,000 position at his side. “You will see how clever I am dealing with that,” he said.

He is unrepentant for having criticised rules that bar employers from asking job applicants if they plan to get married and have children. He said: “I don’t want to be dragged into a debate about stupid EU employment rules. I do what I want in that boardroom and if they [the candidates] don’t like it, they can piss off.”

Despite his brusque manner, more than 20,000 high-flyers applied for the position in Sir Alan’s technology-to-property empire, which is valued at £800 million.

He identified culprits for the current credit crunch, which may hit his commercial property business. Sir Alan said: “It’s the investment bankers, those 30 year-old open-collared executives swigging Evian in their offices.”

He continued: “They sit there and criticise me, saying what a bloody w****r I am and then they lose £1 billion and Bear Sterns goes down the drain in the middle of the night.”

Investment bankers have forgotten the basic rules of creating value in business, he said. “That section of the community could learn something from The Apprentice but they would never admit it. Actually, I think they are addicted to the programme, along with some other recreational things they get up to.”

Sir Alan claims to have become expert at weeding out fame-seekers who apply for the show. He said that previous candidates had thought they were Catherine Zeta-Jones after appearing, but that employers were now wary of hiring Ms Hopkins after her private life became the subject of tabloid exposés.

He said that the BBC ought to produce a version of the show for young entrepreneurs, but promised not to shout “You’re Fired” at tearful 11-year-old contestants.

Last year’s winner, the public schooleducated Simon Ambrose, who beat Kristina Grimes, a single mother, has been working diligently on a property website that allows buyers to speed up legal obstacles, Sir Alan said.

The Apprentice, BBC One, 9pm tonight.

Apprenrtice personae

1 Nicholas De Lacy Brown, 24
Barrister, artist and property developer with a law degree, and an MA in medical law and ethics who lives in West London

2 Jenny Celerier, 36
Sales manager with a BA in marketing from Leicester

3 Jennifer Maguire, 27
Marketing consultant with a leaving certificate (equivalent of A levels) who lives in Bristol

4 Raef Bjayou, 27
Entrepreneur with politics and history degree who lives in northwest London

5 Claire Young, 29
Senior retail buyer with a Bsc in equine science who lives in South London. Born in Johannesburg

6 Lucinda Ledgerwood, 31
Risk manager with a Bsc in psychology and neuroscience, who lives in Edinburgh. Born in Singapore

7 Kevin Shaw, 24
Bank manager with two A levels who lives in Woking

8 Simon Smith, 35
Senior satellite television engineer with eight GCSEs from Harlow, Essex

9 Helene Speight, 32
Global pricing leader with 9 GCSEs who lives in Wakefield, West Yorkshire

10 Sara Dhada, 25
International car trader with a BA in law and economics and an LLM in international commercial law who lives in Leicester

11 Michael Sophocles, 24
Telesales executive with an MA in history and classics from North London

12 Ian Stringer, 26
BBC Three Counties Radio presenter who claims to have an IT job

13 Shazia Wahab, 35
BA in business studies and a diploma in marketing who won discrimination claim against Allen & Overy

14 Lee McQueen, 30
Recruitment sales manager with a B-Tec diploma in IT from Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire

15 Sir Alan Sugar

16Lindi Mngaza
Business liaison manager with an NVQ in customer services who lives in Birmingham

17 Alex Wotherspoon, 24
Regional sales manager with a BA in managerial administrative studies who lives in Bolton

Editor's choice

• Guns N’Roses: Chinese Democracy
• The 50 Biggest Movies of 2009
• Quantum of Solace