A political chief of staff was given a formal warning by her boss for potentially putting fellow passengers at risk after she boarded a flight while infected with Covid-19, a court has heard.
New details of the alleged workplace dispute between federal political staffer Sally Rugg and independent Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan emerged in documents tendered to the Federal Court for the first time on Friday.
Ms Rugg appeared in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Friday for an urgent application asking the court to prevent her job from being terminated in what is heralded as a potential landmark ‘test case’.
The court heard Ms Rugg tested positive to Covid while working for Dr Ryan at Parliament House in Canberra in November, 2022.
Dr Ryan claims Ms Rugg then put passengers at risk by boarding a flight home to Melbourne, according to an affidavit.
Political staffer Sally Rugg (pictured) boarded a flight while infected with Covid last November, a court heard on Friday
She added she took the incident very seriously and didn’t believe any doctor would advise a person infected with Covid to fly.
‘Ms Rugg did not accept the seriousness of what she had done,’ Dr Ryan’s affidavit stated.
A former paediatric neurologist, Dr Ryan famously scolded the vast majority of opposition MPs for not wearing asks in parliament last August.
Ms Rugg took stress leave following the row with Dr Ryan and hasn’t returned to work since.
But she’s still technically employed by the MP, who ousted then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg from his seat last May as one of the Teal independents.
Mr Rugg’s lawyers argued their client had medical advice to return home before Justice Debra Mortimer pointed out it didn’t recommend boarding a flight.
‘You can’t hide from that,’ she told the court.
‘There is no letter [advising her to board a flight].’
An affidavit filed by Ms Rugg to the court also claimed Dr Ryan told her: ‘I want to be the prime minister one day’.
‘You don’t understand, I need to be the best, this is bigger than Kooyong.
‘I want to be the prime minister one day, and I need to know my staff are prepared to work hard for me.’
Teal MP Monique Ryan (pictured last month) told the court she had warned her political staff that she could have put fellow passengers at risk
Ms Rugg launched an unfair dismissal claim against Dr Ryan and the Commonwealth in January, claiming she was threatened with being sacked for refusing to work unreasonable hours.
Dr Ryan told the court Ms Rugg resigned from the position of her own volition, however the staffer’s lawyer told the court she was pushed or jostled into resigning.
Ms Rugg alleged in court documents she would work between 70 and 80 hours a week for Dr Ryan, including working both days across the weekend, writing speeches and other tasks.
She claimed Dr Ryan asked her to work more than that by performing community engagement work, including managing volunteers, projects and events in the MP’s Kooyong electorate.
Dr Ryan’s tone and facial expressions were very angry when issues were raised about Ms Rugg not fulfilling some duties due to the alleged high workload, Ms Rugg said in an affidavit.
The MP is fighting the case and has rejected Ms Rugg’s claims about hostility and tension in the workplace.
Sally Rugg’s (left) desire to continue working for teal MP Monique Ryan (right) may be simply unworkable, a judge told the Federal Court in Melbourne on Friday
Ms Rugg’s lawyer, Angel Aleksov, said his client was employed as an advisor, not specifically as chief-of-staff, and was paid $136,000 per year plus $30,000 in parliamentary allowances.
‘Ms Rugg was plainly saying, ‘I can’t do this community engagement work’. Dr Ryan said ‘no I need you to work harder’,’ he told the court.
‘Ordinary human experience tells us a salary of $130,000ish with top up of $30,000 does not justify someone working 70-plus hours a week, week in, week out.
‘This has test case written all over it.’
He said Ms Rugg was willing to return to work as an advisor for Dr Ryan, undertaking policy and media work, as the dispute continued through the courts.
However, Justice Mortimer said this may be unworkable, given the personal working relationship MPs had with staff.
‘It does seem to me what the applicant is inviting is for the court to supervise or it’s simply unworkable,’ she said.
The hearing continues.
Sally Rugg (pictured with her lawyers) launched an unfair dismissal claim against Dr Monique Ryan and the Commonwealth in January
