The office of a Sydney federal MP is in turmoil, after two long-serving staff members went on workers' compensation amid claims they were bullied by one of the politician's senior advisers.
The long-serving staffers to south-western Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly have been off work since June after successfully making workers' compensation claims for "bullying" and "intimidation".
The women, both in their 60s, worked for Mr Kelly for between three and four years before the government's workers' compensation body concluded in September they had suffered psychological injury from their percieved treatment.
One staffer described a "persistent feeling of intimidation [and] hurtful remarks" and threats to her job.
Neither woman has accused Mr Kelly himself of wrongdoing, but say they clashed with his advisor, UNSW Professor Frank Zumbo.
Liberal insiders say the consumer law expert is a constant confidant of the MP's despite not being on the payroll, or a member of the Liberal party.
The final straw for both women appears to have been having their cars vandalised.
One staffer alleges this happened three times. Another claims her car was "keyed" shortly after convening a lengthy and tense meeting with Mr Kelly about her concerns about the office culture.
Mr Zumbo denied touching the women's cars and Fairfax makes no suggestion that he did.
Mr Kelly said the women had mistakenly presumed another staff member damaged their cars. He said a lock on the car park door was broken, meaning their cars could have been accessed by anyone living in 30 apartments above the offices.
"I believe that these incorrect beliefs contributed to the two staff members' mental state of mind," he said.
Mr Zumbo characterised tension with the women as a "family squabble" and said tension arose from working in close quarters in a small office. But he also accused the staffers of ganging up on him and said they had occasionally made menacing gestures and "burped in [his] face".
Mr Zumbo said he advised Mr Kelly on policy matters on an unpaid basis and had no formal authority but acknowledged he was in the office on most days.
The women also claimed to have feared they were being forced out in favour of younger women.
About three university-aged women are employed on a casual basis in Mr Kelly's office
ComCare found Mr Kelly was welcoming of an investigation into the staffers' workplace issues and was agreeable to changing work days so the staffers and Mr Zumbo did not come into contact.
It is not the first successful claim for compensation in Mr Kelly's office.
Fairfax has learned that in about 2011, a male staffer received a compensation payout of about $15,000 after claiming to have been bullied in the office.
That incident did not involve Mr Zumbo, nor was Mr Kelly accused of improper conduct.
"The parties agreed to disagree on merits of the claim," Mr Kelly said, of the confidential settlement.
Under ComCare rules employees must demonstrate injury to receieve compensation but they do not have to prove their employer was at fault.
