£17k payout | Pregnant worker saw own job advertised online before she was sacked

A pregnant worker was stunned to see her own job being advertised online shortly before she was sacked, an employment tribunal has heard.

Sintija Gaikniece was dismissed from her position at VPZ, a vape shop in Forfar, Scotland, last June after bosses told her that customers had complained about her behaviour.

Gaikniece, who was pregnant at the time and has since given birth, was wary of the fact that no evidence was presented to her of customer complaints, and her suspicions were raised further when she later discovered that the company had posted a job advertisement to replace her before she had been sacked.

According to the legal proceedings, Gaikniece began working for the company in January 2022, and learned she was pregnant just a fortnight into her employment. She told the Record that bosses had promised to discuss maternity arrangements but the discussions never took place, she said.