Marles staffer launches court action against the government, deputy prime minister and Albanese’s chief of staff

The chief of staff to the Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, is launching legal action over claims she was bullied in his office.

Jo Tarnawsky announced at a Parliament House press conference on Monday she was taking her complaints to the federal court. The action is against the government, the deputy prime minister and the prime minister’s chief of staff Tim Gartrell.

Tarnawsky has not accused Marles of personally bullying her.

She said she had spoken out publicly six weeks ago about what was happening to her behind closed doors. But “as far as I know, there has been no investigation into the behaviours I reported”.

“Not a single member of the government has reached out the check on my welfare.”

She had written to Anthony Albanese three weeks ago “asking for him to intervene and to hold the deputy prime minister to account for the way that I had been treated. The prime minister has not responded.”

Instead, she said, her complaint had been “passed around”, first to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service and then to Comcover (the government’s general insurance fund).

Tarnawsky said while both claimed to be independent agencies, both engaged lawyers from the same firm that was taking instructions from Marles.

“They have not been able to assure me that my private information and psychological safety will be protected – and they cannot deal with the most important issue I have raised. That is, for those who did this to me to be held accountable and to ensure that nobody else in this place is ever treated this way again.”

She said taking legal action was the end of a “very long and traumatic road”.

“The government has been afforded multiple opportunities to rectify the wrongs done to me but it has done nothing except duck and cover, collude and delay. It’s not left me with any confidence that it has any intention of doing the right thing.

"Two hundred days is far too many. I will not wait any longer. This matter will now be fully aired in court.” `

Tarnawsky’s lawyer Michael Bradley told the media the claim was being brought under the Fair Work Act “for adverse action in the form of victimisation”.

“Jo exercised a protected workplace right when she raised directly with the deputy prime minister her concerns about bullying behaviour by senior members of his staff.

Her treatment as a result of bringing forward that concern constitutes adverse action, we allege, which is unlawful. It included preventing her from continuing to perform her role, leaving her in a position and keeping her in a position of uncertainty and insecurity regarding her employment. We are seeking pecuniary penalties and compensation.”

Bradley said Tarnawsky was still employed as chief of staff.

“She performed at the request of the government a temporary role for a period. And since then, she’s been on leave. She performed a role under the prime minister’s office in relation to training of other chiefs of staff. She’s on miscellaneous leave.”

He said the accusation against Marles was about “the way he’s dealt with Jo and her rights after she exercised her right”.