Teal MP Monique Ryan’s chief of staff Sally Rugg ‘pleased’ with mediation decision
Teal MP Monique Ryan and her chief of staff Sally Rugg will try to settle a workplace dispute out of court, after Ms Rugg accused Dr Ryan of unfairly sacking her.
Teal MP Monique Ryan and her chief of staff Sally Rugg will try to settle a workplace dispute out of court, after Ms Rugg accused Dr Ryan of unfairly sacking her.
Ms Rugg, a former Get Up! Campaign director and co-chair of Australians for a Murdoch royal Commission, will keep her job until at least 5pm on February 17 when the case will be heard before Justice Debra Mortimer at 10.15am at the Federal Court in Melbourne again.
Ms Rugg and her lawyer Josh Bornstein of Maurice Blackburn said they were “pleased with the outcome” in a statement released on Friday afternoon.
“The issues at the core of Ms Rugg’s substantive complaints are deeply important to her,” Mr Bornstein said.
“She notes that the 2021 Human Rights Commission's inquiry into Commonwealth workplaces and the subsequent Set The Standard Report demonstrated that these issues are important to many staff across Commonwealth offices of the federal parliament.”
Dr Ryan said she hoped the parties could arrive at a “sensible resolution to the dispute”.
“I agreed to this course because I hope the issue can be resolved without further delay, which will enable me to continue the important work that my constituents expect me to have as my focus,” she said.
After a number of brief adjournments during an interlocutory hearing on Friday, representing the Commonwealth Nick Harrington said: “(there is) agreement between the parties was that Ms Rugg will continue her employment until 5pm on 17 February.”
Ms Rugg will be paid “miscellaneous” leave entitlements until then, the court heard.
Justice Mortimer clarified the parties had agreed to try to mediate all “substantive matters” in the case and then commended them — including the Commonwealth — for taking a “sensible” approach by attempting to settle the dispute.
She ordered the proceeding be referred to Judicial Registrar Alison Legge for mediation at a date to be confirmed by all parties.
Dr Ryan’s barrister Matthew Minucci requested mediation meetings accommodate her schedule, as federal parliament will sit for the first time this year from February 6 for two weeks.
Dr Ryan attended court on Friday, and offered no comment at the conclusion of the proceeding.
The member for Kooyong booted former treasurer Josh Frydenberg from what was a safe Liberal seat in Melbourne, in one of the biggest upsets of the 2022 federal election.
She employed Ms Rugg in July last year and at the time commended her as an “outstanding all-rounder with excellent leadership experience, a proven track record of effective policy advocacy, and high-level strategic communications skills”.
Ms Rugg did not front court on Friday, opting to tune in to the hearing from her solicitors office on nearby LaTrobe Street while her legal team — including Mr Bornstein — represented her in court.
Earlier in the proceeding another of her team of four lawyers, Angel Aleksov, said the parties had used a 30 minute adjournment on Friday to agree on a way to resolve the interlocutory application.
It came after Ms Rugg filed an application with the Federal Court on Wednesday last week, seeking to stop Dr Ryan from dismissing her.
Ms Rugg accused Dr Ryan of attempting to fire her because she exercised her workplace right to “make complaints and inquiries in relation to her employment”, court documents read.
“(The) applicant has exercised a workplace right … to refuse to work additional hours that were unreasonable,” the documents read.
Ms Rugg is seeking a declaration the Commonwealth breached the Fair Work Act when it “took adverse action” against Ms Rugg, “being to injure (Ms Rugg) in her employment by engaging in hostile conduct in the workplace.”
Ms Rugg also said she was unfairly dismissed because she “complaints and inquiries in relation to her employment” and is seeking compensation and pecuniary penalties.
Affidavits and other court documents in the matter have been withheld from the media until at least February 17 to ensure the proper “administration of justice”, Justice Mortimer told the court.
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