Sen Lambie won’t shoot Messengers
SENATOR Jacqui Lambie has refrained from returning fire against her former chief of staff and office manager whose claims of “rude and crude” behaviour by the Burnie-based politician were made public on Saturday.
Rob Messenger, a former LNP politician in Queensland, and his wife Fern quit their jobs a month ago.
Both positions have since been advertised.
In a letter of complaint, obtained by News Corp, the pair accuse Senator Lambie of displaying unpredictable behaviour and crudely talking about her sex life at work.
They also allege the independent senator used vulgar and obscene language and gave orders to staff while under the influence of alcohol.
A spokesman from Senator Lambie’s office said the pair had made a lot of false claims.
“But Senator Lambie does not intend to offer a running commentary on this while it’s going through Fair Work,” the spokesman said.
“Mr Messenger is a disgruntled former employee, lashing out for reasons only he understands.
“He might want to damage Senator Lambie’s reputation, but Senator Lambie does not want to damage his. She wishes him good health and good luck into the future.”
After the Messengers made an official complaint to the Commonwealth under Public Interest Disclosure Laws, Senator Lambie issued a “show cause” notice to the pair over claims Mr Messenger used a private email address for work purposes and allegations they were trying to spy on their former boss.
Among the accusations levelled at Sen Lambie are that she took staff shopping for “sex toys” at adult stores and complained about needing “a root”.
A letter of complaint from Mr and Mrs Messenger alleges that Ms Lambie’s staff were “walking on eggshells” due to her “angry mood swings”.
Mr Messenger accuses Ms Lambie of using vulgar and obscene language in the office, describing anyone she disagreed with her as a “c**t arse”.
He wrote: “You see nothing wrong with ... regularly announcing to staff members – including a young male – that you ‘haven’t got laid in a long time’ and you desperately ‘need a root’.”
— with Annika Smethurst
The Daily Telegraph