Newcastle councillor Elizabeth Adamczyk has denied she attempted to bully her internal political rivals during Labor's local government preselection process.
It follows revelations that NSW Labor killed off an independent investigation into complaints of bullying and harassment lodged under the party's complaints handling policy.
Supporters of Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery alleged loyalists of lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes had engaged in a "highly coordinated and politically motivated" attack during the recent preselection process.
This included bringing charges against seven people, described as "supporting" Ms Hornery, over three days in February under the party's laws, with offences ranging from disloyalty, defamation and not meeting party standards to be a candidate.
The charges were submitted by Wallsend branch president David Norris, however, it is alleged that one of the charges submitted by Mr Norris had Cr Adamczyk's electronic signature on it.
Further, two of the charges submitted under Mr Norris's name had screenshots of online content provided as evidence where Cr Adamczyk's Facebook page, email account or Microsoft Word account can be seen open in the tabs section at the top of the computer screen.
After six of the charged members complained that they had been falsely accused as part of a campaign to bully them, Labor's external complaints manager, Sydney-based lawyer Brad Baker, of Griffin Legal, recommended a full investigation.
However, after initially indicating that the matter would be investigated, Mr Baker said the investigation would not proceed.
Cr Adamczyk, the Wallsend branch secretary, defended her actions in the preselection campaign on Sunday.
"Raising concerns through confidential internal party processes is not bullying. I have preserved that confidentiality - to my detriment - and will continue to do so," she said.
"Leaking to the media during an election campaign is an attack on procedural fairness."
Independent lord mayoral candidate and former Labor Party member Ross Kerridge seized on the revelations and called for Labor lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes to disendorse Cr Adamczyk.
"When party preselection processes are engaged in and incumbent councillors' future careers are threatened, one would expect some form of response," Dr Kerridge said.
"In this case however, one particular councillor allegedly went a lot further and used the party's disciplinary complaints system to target people she thought were a threat to her in an effort to attain a political advantage."
Cr Adamczyk accused Dr Kerridge of seeking to "opportunistically exploit confidential information and spread misinformation" for his own political gain.
"Kerridge's increasingly negative campaign, evidenced by vindictive and malicious commentary, with unfounded personal attacks and spreading of misinformation, stands in stark contrast to the Labor team's hard work and achievements in this term," she said.
Dr Kerridge said it appeared as though the party's investigation had been pulled to protect Cr Adamczyk.
"This is appalling behaviour from both the elected Labor councillor and by the highest echelons of the party itself," he said.
"The standard we walk by is the standard we accept. Does Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes accept bullying and misuse of serious disciplinary processes from her councillors, or does she condemn them?
Cr Nelmes dismissed Dr Kerridge's call to take action against Cr Adamczyk, who has been endorsed as a ward 4 candidate.
"As a woman fighting for my community and delivering change for my city, I have often been the subject of smear, misinformation and online harassment by the likes of Ross Kerridge," she said.
"I refuse to let his threatening behaviour and retrograde, negative campaigns get in the way of the much needed work that I will continue to do to deliver for our city."
