The Employment Relations Authority has ordered the employer of a woman terminated after a miscarriage to pay $15,000 compensation for the emotional injury she suffered when she was wrongly fired, New Zealand Herald reports.

Aedene Massie was fired from her job as a pharmacy technician on June 29 last year, just days after her miscarriage.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found the termination was unjustifiable, and it caused Ms Massie to feel unreasonably hurt and humiliated. Her miscarriage compounded her agony, according to ERA.

Ms Massie became pregnant not long after she was hired by former employers Allan and Neenee Ong as a pharmacy technician on May 2 last year. She learned her pregnancy was abnormal after a scan on June 15, and subsequently suffered a miscarriage on June 18. It was within that week when she asked Mr. and Mrs. Ong to allow her to take a sick leave so she could undergo a post-miscarriage medical procedure.

After she returned to work, Mr Ong had asked her for a meeting, during which he read to her a letter terminating her employment.

The letter cited the number of days she left for sick leave as one of the reasons for the dismissal.

The ERA ruling also indicated the employers took into account a previous employee's unsubstantiated claim that Ms Massie had stolen from the cash register.

ERA member Eleanor Robinson told the Herald the dismissal was unjustified and it was carried out improperly.

She said Mr and Mrs Ong should have first given Ms Massie a chance to respond to accusations that she was stealing money from the pharmacy.

Mrs Robinson also said dismissing Ms Massie just days after her miscarriage only magnified her distress.

With a ruling on costs reserved, the ERA found Mr and Mrs Ong should compensate Ms Massie for her distress.

"Ms Massie is also entitled to compensation for humiliation and distress. I find that in respect of the unjustifiable dismissal, Ms Massie suffered significant distress," said Mrs Robinson.