Lawyer Courtney Kelley sues Chris Ellison, Mineral Resources amid alleged fears she’d blow the whistle

Mineral Resources and its besieged boss Chris Ellison are fighting claims by an in-house lawyer that she was ousted for raising concerns about the company’s culture.

Naming Mr Ellison as a second defendant in her Federal Circuit Court action, Courtney Kelley reportedly claims the Mineral Resources managing director had her terminated because he suspected she would make a whistleblower disclosure.

Billionaire Mr Ellison has been under intense pressure over historic tax evasion on co-owned offshore companies and accusations he used Mineral Resources for personal benefit via a series of related party transactions.

A MinRes spokesman rejected Ms Kelley’s allegations against Mr Ellison, saying they had no basis. “Mr Ellison has not met or interacted with Ms Kelley,” the spokesman said.

Ms Kelley had been working in the commercial and legal team on what MinRes claims was a six-month trial before being hit with a hotly-contested redundancy in May this year.

The former DLA Piper lawyer reportedly claims in the Federal Circuit Court that she made inquiries or complaints every month of 2024 and had reportedly raised concerns about cultural issues in the land access team, where she had been an access adviser.

Her claim covers the period between Mr Ellison telling his MinRes board colleagues of his $3.9 million settlement with the Australian Taxation Office over an overseas tax scheme and directors receiving a report from external investigators.

The tax settlement and long-secret related party dealings were not disclosed until a public scandal broke in mid-October.

It is not known if Ms Kelley’s alleged concerns related to matters now subject to an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation.

Whistleblowers can enjoy protections under the Corporations Act and may be shielded from dismissal or other reprisals because of their actions.

The Mineral Resources spokesman denied Ms Kelley was ousted because she made workplace complaints or otherwise exercised workplace rights. “The company takes seriously any workplace complaint,” he said.

Her employment ended because she did not want to return her substantive position as a land access advisor at the end of her six-month trial in commercial and legal, the spokesman said.

Federal Circuit Court action comes after the failure of Ms Kelley and Mineral Resouces to resolve a complaint she made to the Fair Work Commission shortly after her purported redundancy.

Ms Kelley’s action is due for its first mention in the Federal Circuit Court on February 11.