A minister is being described by Labour MP Gaurav Sharma as the “main bully” in an explosive social media post where Sharma also accused staff of being drunk at work, and not showing up at all.
A day after running an op-ed in the NZ Herald where he said there was rampant bullying in Parliament, Sharma wrote a long social media post on Friday night containing a raft of allegations.
A Labour spokesperson reiterated that the party disputes Sharma's allegations.
Among the claims was that he was told to "shut up" by Parliamentary Service after laying complaints against staffers who were "underperforming", "drunk" or absent in their roles.
"But instead of listening to my concerns, this was actively turned into a major project by the Labour Party Whips to bring me into disrepute and to rein me in. I sat in meetings after meetings being told I was doing a terrible job," Sharma wrote.
Earlier on Friday, a former staffer of Sharma's told the NZ Herald they needed counselling because of the alleged culture of bullying in the Labour MP's office.
The long post provides a timeline of the alleged bullying Sharma claims he experienced starting February 2021, in which he labels the now minister as the main perpetrator.
Sharma claimed the minister “kept gaslighting me, shouting at me, degrading me in front of caucus members and other attendees at events and telling me that I was a terrible MP”.
He said as a result of alleged bullying, he “slowly…fell into a cycle of stress, depression and lack of hope as I found myself stuck”.
He also makes the claim, without evidence, that after informing Parliamentary Services that a Labour MP was misusing taxpayer's money, the concerns and his identity as the complainant were forwarded to Labour Party whips.
"I had to put a bold face up as I struggled everyday with the thought of contemplating suicide."
Despite claiming in the post that he had “hundreds of pages of evidence - emails, timelines, issues etc to explain my case”, Shama provided no supporting evidence of any of his claims.
A Labour spokesperson said in a statement on Friday night the party disputes his allegations.
“As previously stated there have been ongoing issues between Gaurav and some of his staff that his Facebook post provides further confirmation of,” the spokesperson said.
“We believe we’ve handled this matter appropriately and in accordance with the normal processes when staffing issues are raised.”
The office for the minister accused referred 1News to the statement issued by the Labour Party, adding that the minister won’t be providing further comment.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern disputed the allegations earlier on Friday, saying she was aware of issues she described as "employment-related".
When asked the nature of the issues, Ardern said, "all I've seen is constructive attempts to try and resolve these issues, even when you engage in what you believe is a constructive way, others may interpret that differently".
"It is an employment relationship, there are other individuals involved, not just MPs, and so I need to make sure that I maintain the confidentiality for those individuals."
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