Richard Marles’ Chief of Staff Jo Tarnawsky launches legal action over claims she was forced to leave her job after filing a bullying complaint

The deputy prime minister’s chief of staff is suing the government over claims she was forced to resign after filing a harassment complaint.

Jo Tarnawsky has filed a lawsuit in the federal court against the federal government, the deputy prime minister and the prime minister’s chief of staff, claiming ‘adverse action’ under the Fair Work Act.

Her lawyer, Michael Bradley, told Daily Mail Australia she was “frozen out” of her job after filing the complaint on April 29.

“She sent Marles a message while they were on a plane flying back from a trip to Europe. He responded positively and said they would talk the next day, but the next day he actually beat her up.

“The deputy prime minister told her he didn’t want her to work for him anymore and from then on she was frozen.”

As of April 30, Marles was denied access to her office and her personal belongings are still there, Bradley said.

She has not suggested that Mr. Marles bullied her.

Ms. Tarnawsky is still serving in her position but is on various leave. An acting chief of staff has been doing her job since May, Bradley said.

The deputy prime minister’s chief of staff is suing the government over claims she was forced to resign after filing a bullying complaint

She was in a workplace at the time when she made the bullying complaint, and the fact that Marles allegedly forced her out of her role was unlawful under the Fair Work Act.

In a statement from Parliament House, Ms Tarnawsky told reporters she was not aware of any investigation into the alleged bullying she reported.

“It has now been more than 200 days since I raised my concerns privately with the Deputy Prime Minister about bullying behavior in his office,” she said.

‘That got me banned. My workplace situation is still not resolved. Not a single member of the government has reached out to check on my well-being.

“After introducing parliamentary workplace reforms, the government is testing in real time what it can get away with.”

Ms. Tarnawsky’s lawyer, Michael Bradley, said last month that Mr. Marles called to fire her after she made the bullying report.

“So what happened was that Jo raised a legitimate concern about issues within the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, including bullying behavior, and the response to that was to effectively drive her out of her job,” he said.

‘Jo accepts that it is a relationship of trust, and if that trust is not there, of course it cannot continue.

“She is just like any employee in the country, she is entitled to fair treatment and procedural fairness and her rights as an employee have not been respected.”

The allegations come after the government passed legislation establishing a new, independent body to crack down on bad behavior in parliament.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) launched on October 1.

there is more to come