Legal action looming for Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison.

Does the loud-mouthed, hip-shooting billionaire fear anything more than being named at length in a distressingly revealing statement of claim?

Not that Mineral Resources and its Silverback-in-Chief Chris Ellison have arrived at this moment – well, not yet.

But judging by how the company is dragging out a dispute in the Fair Work Commission, we suspect an incoming scandal might land at a Federal Court near you (the Federal Court being where FWC cases usually end up when mediation fails).

We speak of MinRes’ former in-house lawyer Courtney Kelley, who in July updated her LinkedIn account to reflect that she no longer worked for the mining company.

As it turns out, Kelley had quietly commenced proceedings against MinRes months ago over the circumstances of her exit – this after she had allegedly tried to engage directly with Ellison and directors on the MinRes board over a set of concerns, those entreaties having been essentially fobbed off and ignored.

Which is a shame, because wasn’t it Ellison who told staff on a town hall webinar that they should always contact him directly if they experienced problems in the workplace – and wasn’t there an assurance provided that his lieutenants would take meaningful action?

Given the months that have elapsed, it’s reasonable to suspect that the FWC negotiations aren’t close to a resolution. MinRes declined to comment and Kelley wasn’t able to be reached. Is a civil court matter coming? We do hear she’s being supported by some deep-pocketed backers.

And this is all terribly timed, as well, especially off the back of Ellison’s repeated overtures, trying to recruit more women to his workforce. Why would they bother?

Surely not for the benefit of the cheap childcare that Ellison held out as a tantalising incentive. He can keep paying a preened and perfumed Julie Bishop to strut through the cafe and gym at the mining company’s WA headquarters. But like a beachball trapped underwater, the shabby treatment of some women at MinRes does keep finding a way to rise to the surface.

To wit, barely a fortnight ago we revealed that a top MinRes lawyer was allowed to resign from the company rather than face termination – and the loss of any benefits – after being forewarned of a sexual harassment investigation being led by Human Resources.

The allegations had been levelled against this person by multiple women, the company having corroborated their evidence. Unfortunately, the probe collapsed once the lawyer completed his exit, rendering the whole exercise almost pointless.

And we’re to believe Ellison’s claim that he’s trying to create a safer place for women at MinRes? Please.

Royal treatment

Not that we heard any trumpets, but there was certainly some fanfare last year when Rio Tinto announced it had hired Samantha Cohen, a former private secretary to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as a chief of staff to the CEO, Jakob Stausholm.

Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Picture: AFP

Well, that was January 2023, and Margin Call has it on good authority that Cohen formally ended her role (based in London) a few days ago. An internal note released last month by Stausholm announced Cohen’s imminent exit from the company.

“Sam has been an incredible colleague to work with in the last year and a half, bringing her unique and valuable perspective to me and our organisation,” Stausholm said. “I am sad to see her go and wish her all the best in the future, as she lends her considerable talents to new places and projects.”

Cohen, an Australian, had been a member of the royal household for 17 years and worked for Harry and Megan for about 17 months before joining Rio, between stints in other positions.

She was described as a “saint” in a book by Times of London royal correspondent Valentine Low, in which he wrote that she had been made “miserable” working for the couple. “Sam always made clear that it was like working for a couple of teenagers. They were impossible and pushed her to the limit,” Low’s book said.

Samantha Cohen.

Brian Pontifex.

Rio is replacing Cohen with another Australian, Brian Pontifex, most recently the company’s head of government relations based in Canberra, which he, too, is now shedding for London.

Pontifex’s priors include time served as Australia’s ambassador and permanent representative to the OECD in Paris, and as a chief of staff to former WA Liberal premier Colin Barnett. He also staffed for former Howard government minister Christopher Ellison.

So certainly a man with Liberal Party credentials, providing Rio a bit of symmetry with BHP, which has just hired former NSW premier Dom Perrottet as their next head of external affairs in Washington.

The odd couple

Here’s one: what do the famed corporate raider Gary Weiss and former GetUp boss and Greens candidate Simon Sheikh have in common?

Absolutely nothing is what would have been our answer – at least on politics.

And it’s hard to think of two more unlikely corporate bedfellows, except for a detail buried in the latest disclosures from Weiss’s listed investment company, Ariadne Australia, which speaks to the old adage that capital has no politics.

Gary Weiss is an investor in Future Super Group, an ‘ethical’ trader and manager. Picture: David Kelly

Weiss is an investor in Sheikh’s Future Super Group, which markets itself as ethical trader and manager, one that’s free of even the faintest whiff of fossil fuels. Climate 200’s Simon Holmes a Court was an early backer, and while Weiss certainly crossed swords with his father, Robert Holmes a Court (Australia’s first billionaire) during their salad days, Margin Call really can’t see Weiss, a director of the Liberal-leaning Centre for Independent Studies, voting for a teal candidate anytime soon.

That said, Weiss’s is a relatively small investment, less than $2m from what we understand, a veritable drop in the ocean when lined up against the 390,000 members and upwards of $15bn in funds under management.

Still an odd fit, though. In 2022 it was Weiss’ job as an Australian Rugby League Commissioner to expand betting on the sport into the US. Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago, Future Super Group was one of the headline backers of a new activist shareholder group trying to force media companies to stop accepting gambling ads.