Barry investigated on bullying claims

Maggie Barrry
Maggie Barrry
National MP Maggie Barry has been investigated twice over bullying claims this year - including accusations she expected staff to do political party work on taxpayer time, which would be unlawful.

Two employees in Ms Barry's four-person office have accused her of bullying since May - one in a personal grievance complaint, and the other during the investigation of that complaint.

Neither staff member now works for Ms Barry, the MP for the North Shore and the former host of Maggie's Garden Show.

In a statement today, Ms Barry insisted that she has been cleared of bullying claims made by former staff.

She conceded there were issues raised by former staff, but they were resolved "by mutual agreement'' and "there was no finding that bullying or harassment had occurred''.

Ms Barry said she has constructive and positive relationships with employees.

She is backed up by a different former staff member who said she never saw any bullying behaviour from Ms Barry, though she added that everyone has different ideas about what constitutes bullying.

The allegations follow other claims of bullying against demoted Labour MP Meka Whaitiri, Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross, and outgoing Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell, who all dispute the claims - or, in Ms Whaitiri's case, aspects of the claims - against them.

The Weekend Herald has obtained documents which show that during its investigations in August, Parliamentary Service heard allegations that Ms Barry:

• Swore and yelled at staff.

• Called an employee "stupid''.

• Used derogatory terms about other elected officials, which made staff uncomfortable.

• Referred to people with mental health issues using offensive terms like "nutter''.

• Discussed her employees' sexuality in the workplace.

• Expected staff would do work for the National Party during office hours, which they felt unable to refuse while knowing it was wrong, because they were scared.

One staffer told investigators he believed there was a huge power imbalance and that Ms Barry was "terrifying'' and could "destroy my career''.

When questioned by Parliamentary Service in August, Ms Barry denied all allegations.

"In particular, she disputes the claims regarding her attitude and comments attributed regarding people with mental health issues,'' the investigation notes from her interview read.

"[She says] she does not use profanities and doesn't swear or behave inappropriately ... MB absolutely refutes that she expects staff to complete party work during work time.''

However, the Weekend Herald has heard recordings which appear to show Ms Barry swearing in a work context.

It has also seen messages from Ms Barry - who rarely used email but instead spoke into the voice-to-text function on her phone - appearing to request political work be completed during office hours.

Examples included writing her column Maggie's Messenger, in which she encouraged people to vote for Northcote MP Dan Bidois, and completing a "Super Blues'' brochure for an over-60s National Party conference.

When questioned yesterday, Ms Barry said the allegations were vigorously denied and disputed and were thoroughly investigated by Parliamentary Service. There was no finding that bullying or harassment had occurred.

"The issues have all been resolved professionally and by mutual agreement. I have wished the employees concerned well and so I am surprised to see they are being repeated in a partial, selective and incomplete way.''

The former staff who supported Ms Barry said new staff members sometimes mistook parliamentary work for party work, and it often took time to realise what material, for example, should and should not carry a National Party logo.

The Weekend Herald has been unable to confirm the result of the first investigation into the personal grievance. 

- By Kirsty Johnston and Derek Cheng