An electorate office staffer of Rebekha Sharkie has launched a Fair Work case against the Centre Alliance MP, alleging a “course of bullying behaviour” left her unable to work since December 2022.
The case, commenced in the federal circuit court on Monday, argues that the finance department and Sharkie took “adverse action” against her by changing her hours in July 2022 as a result of Anthony Albanese’s decision to reduce crossbenchers’ staffing allocation.
Gaynor Slaughter, the applicant, is seeking compensation for medical expenses and lost earnings, as well as civil penalties for the alleged adverse action and failure to consult her about major changes, as required by staffers’ workplace pay deal.
The case is the second seeking to litigate workplace treatment allegedly caused by the Albanese government’s staffer cut, after Monique Ryan’s former chief of staff Sally Rugg sued the MP for unreasonable hours before settling the case.
According to Slaughter’s application, obtained from the court by Guardian Australia, the electorate officer informed her employer in April 2022 that she was “experiencing anxiety and stress” completing her work in the four days a week she was rostered on.
Slaughter alleges that on 25 July 2022, Sharkie told her that she was being cut to three days a week as a result of the staffing cut, warning “in a terse and sharp manner” that if this was unacceptable she should seek a redundancy package and leave.
In addition to the cut in hours, Slaughter alleges that Sharkie took adverse action against her by directing that she report to a staff member who she had “difficulty with”. That direction caused her “distress, insomnia, episodes of crying, loss of confidence, anxiety and depression” to be “aggravated”, the application alleged.
Slaughter claims she was embarrassed and distressed when her supervisor cautioned her not to bother other staff, including in one instance in August 2022 when she asked a colleague to follow up a call from the leader of the opposition’s office.
From October, Slaughter claimed she “was made to feel unwelcome in the workplace and ostracised”.
Slaughter claimed that the chief of staff revealed that her supervisor had “had been timing the Applicant’s absence from the office for lunch breaks and that she had been taking longer than her half hour lunch breaks”.
The application responded that this was “false”, except for one occasion in which she was “delayed by a constituent who had recently lost her mother” and that “more often the applicant worked through lunch”.
“The applicant’s condition and despair thereby intensified and she felt both psychologically and physically ill.”
On 7 December, Slaughter was admitted to Mt Barker hospital emergency in an ambulance with high blood pressure, and has not worked since she was released on 8 December, according to the application.
Slaughter claims the failure to consult her properly about the major change and alleged adverse action caused her non-economic loss in the form of “hurt, distress and humiliation” and lost earnings since 5 December.
On Tuesday Sharkie reportedly told the Australian newspaper that she was aware Slaughter had lodged a case but she was yet to be served with any formal papers.
“Ms Slaughter has always been supported in the workplace. Ms Slaughter has been offered support and flexibility with respect to her personal matters and any pre-existing health issues,” Sharkie reportedly said.
“As this matter now appears to be before the court, I will not be making any further comments.”
In an interview in 2018 Sharkie referred to Slaughter, who had worked alongside Sharkie in Liberal Isobel Redmond’s office, as “a close friend of mine”.
Sharkie told ABC Adelaide that Slaughter was “out of a job” and would “be coming and filling in for a maternity leave position that will be coming up in my office”.
Guardian Australia contacted Sharkie for comment.
