A LABOUR MSP is reportedly facing claims of bullying and creating a “toxic” and “chaotic” working environment by multiple former members of staff.
Monica Lennon returned to Holyrood as a regional MSP for Glasgow in July following the former Labour leader Anas Sarwar's resignation as he took a peerage in the the House of Lords so that he could become a Trade Minister in Andy Burnham’s Government.
The 45-year-old attempted to replace Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader but ultimately failed to gain the backing of her parliamentary colleagues.
It has since been revealed that at least four former staffers who worked for Lennon during her previous time at Holyrood have accused her of bullying, according to The Scotsman.
Lennon has strongly refuted the claims and has described the allegations as “completely untrue and defamatory”.
A senior Scottish Labour source told The Scotsman that multiple former staff members have signed confidentiality agreements after complaining about Lennon’s behaviour, with some also receiving lump sum payments.
It was also reported that union sources, from different unions, also confirmed they dealt with staff complaints regarding Lennon’s behaviour.
One former staffer told the paper that landing a role working in the Scottish Parliament under Lennon was a “dream job” and that they were looking forward to working in politics in an “interesting, modern, engaging way”.
However, they said: “I had never worked in a more toxic environment, but it’s hard to explain just how difficult it was because so much of it was completely unreasonable and unpredictable, but to see her now with her reputation still intact is very challenging because I feel gaslit by the whole situation.”
Another former staffer alleged that the workplace under Lennon was “frantic” and “chaotic” and that staff would be “set on edge” by the Labour MSP “changing impulses”.
They added: “I felt that she seemed to really enjoy making me feel stupid and deliberately tripped up, which was humiliating.”
The former employee said: “I came close to some form of breakdown.”
Adding: “I was crying every day at work. It really got under my skin.
“It was so chaotic. I've worked for a lot of politicians over the years, and none of them were as bad as her.”
It was also alleged that one former staffer said they had met with their trade union rep and were told they were “not the first person” to raise issues working under Lennon.
A former staffer also said: “I got to see and experience other people in parallel roles and it was not comparable.”
They added: “To this day I cannot quite get my head around why it seemed someone would choose to be so actively manipulative and mean to someone working for them.”
Under Holyrood’s employment system, staff are employed by MSPs and not the party or the parliament.
A senior insider said: “There will be dozens of people who have gone through and worked in that parliament for MSPs who have had awful experiences of one thing or another, be it bullying, harassment or sexual harassment, who have walked away with nothing because they feel there's no structure to support them.”
Lennon has refuted the allegation as she said: “While my policy has always been not to comment on staffing matters, these allegations are completely untrue and defamatory.
“There are rightly policies and procedures in place for any employee to raise concerns about their employers.”
The Scottish Parliament told The Scotsman that it would not discuss, give out information or comment on a personnel-related matter.
However, a spokesperson said: “The Scottish Parliament takes a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and we are committed to creating a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment.
“We published the results of a dignity at work review earlier this year and are implementing the recommendations of that report. This includes the creation of a confidential HR advice service specifically for MSP staff.”
