Parramatta council worker’s emails were read on CEO’s orders, ICAC told

An employee suspected of making confidential bullying complaints to a City of Parramatta whistleblowing system had her emails surveilled on the authority of the now-sacked council boss, an anti-corruption inquiry has heard.

On Thursday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard former Parramatta Council chief executive Gail Connolly approved the surveillance based on the theory that the employee was orchestrating a campaign to have the contract of an executive terminated, despite a lack of evidence substantiating the claim.

Mark Deayton was the acting workplace relations and strategic projects manager at the council and one of three employees tasked with reviewing reports made to Stopline, a confidential reporting service, in 2023.

He gave evidence on day four of the public inquiry in Operation Navarra, the ICAC’s hearing into multiple allegations against Connolly, including that she spied on staff and a councillor, and used confidential information for improper purposes, including rewarding allies and removing critics or perceived opponents.

From October to November 2023, six complaints were made regarding alleged bullying by Angela Jones-Blayney and Roxanne Thornton, and alleged nepotistic hiring practices of Jones-Blayney and Connolly. The trio were part of a group who referred to themselves as the “Pink Ladies”, the ICAC heard.

In her opening address on Monday, counsel assisting Joanna Davidson, SC, said evidence obtained by the commission suggests Jones-Blayney and Thornton were provided with copies of the confidential Stopline complaints, in contravention of council policy.

Deayton, who still works at the council, told the inquiry on Thursday that Jones-Blayney believed the complaints were made by Sheree Gover, an employee who reported directly to Jones-Blayney, and were part of a broader campaign to have her contract terminated by coercing other employees to also file complaints. Jones-Blayney detailed this in her own complaint against Gover to Stopline.

Following the concerns raised by Jones-Blayney, Connolly approved the surveillance of Gover’s emails to search for evidence that other employees were being coerced into making complaints, Deayton said.

“What evidence was there at this point in time that there had been coercion of people?” Chief Commissioner John Hatzistergos asked Deayton.

“At this stage, Chief Commissioner, we were still in the process of considering actions and determining if there was any evidence. Hence, the request for the email search to allow us to see if there’s any evidence,” Deayton said.

“So there wasn’t any evidence at this point of coercion?”

“It was a theory, yes, a strong theory.”

In November 2023, an external investigation into Gover was authorised. That same month, Deayton sent an email requesting additional information from his colleague including examples of Gover making disrespectful remarks about Jones-Blayney, Thornton and two other executives in Teams messages.

Further investigation into Gover’s Teams messages with other staff members revealed Jones-Blayney was often referred to by two nicknames: “Umbridge” from the Harry Potter franchise and “Blanche” from the television show The Golden Girls.

“My initial view was [Blanche] wasn’t as disparaging as some of the other nicknames. However, once I reviewed the team’s communications, it was used in a manner to describe [or] to infer that Miss Jones-Blayney was promiscuous,” Deayton said.

The inquiry was told the scope of the investigation changed from Gover soliciting complaints to potential code of conduct breaches following the search into her Teams messages. The investigation was then expanded further to include other employees, with several thousand emails and Teams messages reviewed.

Davidson asked Deayton if he was concerned by the way the allegations against Gover had been dealt with, which resulted in the termination of her employment.

“The investigation didn’t result in the termination of Miss Gover. Allegations were put to her, which she never responded to,” he said.

“In fact, I think her evidence a couple of days ago was that she didn’t even read the letter until October last year. Ultimately, there were negotiations between her and, with the assistance of her union and Miss Connolly, the outcome [was that] Miss Gover chose to resign.”

The Stopline system was terminated some months after the investigation into Gover and replaced with an anonymous intranet form. Deayton told the inquiry: “It hasn’t been utilised, not one single report.”

The hearing continues.