MP doubles down on bullying claims
Sharma alleges misuse of taxpayer funds
Backbench Labour MP Dr Gaurav Sharma has published a fresh attack against his caucus on social media, alleging he was bullied by senior party members.
The Hamilton West member of Parliament also alleged an MP and a staffer were misusing taxpayer funds.
Last night’s claims come after the firstterm politician and Fulbright Scholar wrote a column in the NZ Herald yesterday, in which he said he was the victim of bullying.
However, a former staffer in Sharma’s office told the Herald it was Sharma who was “controlling” and had reduced them to tears, while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Labour “dispute the allegations”.
Labour whip Duncan Webb and the Parliamentary Service have also said they have been working with Sharma on “employment matters”.
Responding to the MP’s lengthy social media post yesterday, Webb again said Labour disputes Sharma’s version of events and repeated there had been “ongoing issues between Gaurav and some of his staff ”.
“The Labour whips have been working alongside the Parliamentary Services to address [them]. We believe that has been done . . . appropriately.”
On social media, Sharma alluded to growing frustration with Labour and claims he was not taken seriously after raising concerns about underperforming staff and wider party issues.
He said he has fallen into a cycle of depression and began to contemplate suicide.
Ardern said he was still “valued” by Labour. “While we dispute the allegations he has made, Gaurav is a valued member of the team, and we want to make sure he is getting the support he needs,” she said. Ardern did not address the specific allegations.
Sharma said that in February last year he had an “underperforming staff member”.
He said he collected “hundreds” of pages of documentation to prove this, but is yet to disclose any publicly. Instead of “listening” to his “concerns” about the staff member, Sharma claims, people in the Labour Party tried to bring him “into disrepute” and rein him in.
“I sat in meetings after meetings being told I was doing a terrible job and that 9/10 times the MP is a bully so we refuse to listen to anything you have to say,” he claims.
Sharma said he wrote “numerous” emails to the Parliamentary Service, the official employer of parliamentary staff, but he alleges it told him to work harder.
“If you are staying up and working until 3am, you should work until 5am to make up for your staff ’s incompetence.”
He said staff were “drunk at work, not showing up to work, being sent on leave without any notice or approval and a significant wastage of taxpayer’s money”.
Sharma said he was shouted at and “degraded” in front of other members of Labour’s caucus.
In a separate allegation, he said a Labour MP and parliamentary staffer who was also a Labour member were “misusing taxpayers’ money”. Instead of looking into the matter, he said, the Parliamentary Service had forwarded his concerns back to people in the Labour Party.
Sharma said he was told he should be “ashamed” of himself for speaking out.
He said that instead of treating the claims seriously, he was told: “The only way this country can succeed is if Labour is in Government. Government means Labour. So the party comes first . . . before the country.”
Sharma said the matter was never looked into and everything was “hushed.”
“Slowly I fell into a cycle of stress, depression and lack of hope as I found myself stuck. I remember one of my former patients sending me very kind message on World Mental Health Day about how I had helped her as a doctor a while ago.
“I thought to myself about how despite listening to and assisting many of my constituents with bullying and harassment issues, I had to put a bold face up as I struggled every day with the thought of contemplating suicide,” he said. Eventually, Sharma claims he raised his concerns about bullying with the Prime Minister’s office. “I took with me hundreds of pages of evidence — emails, timelines, issues etc to explain my case,” he said. Eventually, Sharma said he engaged a lawyer to make his case.
“I was open about this to the Parliamentary Services and the Labour whips from the moment I hired the lawyer but they thought I was bluffing,” he said.
At a meeting on Thursday, Sharma claimed, Labour laughed in his face. He said this meeting prompted him to go public with his concerns in his column.
“[They] laugh on my face saying in front of my lawyer, ‘how will you even sue us, you have no legal rights’, while repeatedly refusing to investigate anything I have said or investigate me for any issue,” he said. Webb, who attended Thursday’s meeting, said the whip’s office had at all times “acted in good faith and sought to work constructively with Gaurav and the Parliamentary Service to ensure he has good support available to address issues between him and his staff ”. “It recently paused hiring with the intention of providing further assistance before more staff were hired into his office.
“This seemed prudent. The Parliamentary Service and I met with Gaurav in good faith to progress these issues as recently as [Thursday], he was fully represented at that meeting.
“We are mindful these are ongoing relationships, so we must respect individual’s privacy, but we will continue to seek a resolution with Gaurav in the coming weeks.”
A spokesperson for Labour reiterated that the party disputes Sharma’s allegations.
“We believe we’ve handled this matter appropriately and in accordance with the normal processes when staffing issues are raised,” the spokesperson said.