Tuesday 17 May 2022 04:01 AM The Project's Peter van Onselen's Twitter coffee row in Tegan George Ten's ... trends now
Ten political editor Peter van Onselen has stoked the flames of his TV station's bitter legal row with press gallery reporter Tegan George with a provocative new tweet.
Ms George is suing Ten, claiming she was bullied in the 'toxic workplace' and her career sabotaged while working under van Onselen in the station's Canberra bureau.
She hasn't worked since June 2021 and is understood to have been in hospital receiving treatment for mental health issues in the three months since filing the bombshell lawsuit in February.
Her claims against the network include damning allegations van Onselen set up fellow reporter Stela Todorovic as a rival newsroom star to 'get at' Ms George.
Ms George also claimed van Onselen snubbed her by not inviting her to staff coffee meetings.
But on Sunday, ahead of the latest stage of the court proceedings in the case, van Onselen revived the row when he tweeted from the campaign trail in Brisbane ahead of Saturday's federal election.
Tegan George hasn't worked since last June and is understood to have been in hospital with mental health issues for the last three months
Ten's political editor Peter van Onselen (pictured) stoked the flames of his TV station's bitter legal row with press gallery reporter Tegan George in a new provocative tweet
'Like ships in the night, I missed @Stela_Todorovic and @ChloeBouras in Brisbane today,' he posted.
'Would have been good to grab a coffee with less than a week to go on the campaign trail and catch up.'
He added pointedly: 'Hopefully they don't hold it against me!'
Ms George had previously complained she was excluded from coffee catch-ups with van Onselen in Canberra.
It's understood Ms George's coffee complaints in the lawsuit related to her trying to chat with van Onselen about her allegations that he would not engage with her.
However sources within the TV network say van Onselen was rarely in Canberra at that time, and even more rarely has coffee with anyone.
On Sunday, ahead of the latest stage of the court proceedings in the case, Peter van Onselen revived the Coffee-gate row when he tweeted from the election hustings
On Sunday, Ms George's alleged newsroom rival Ms Todorovic replied: 'Such a shame - the team has been apart for so long but big debrief post election is a must.'
The legal action is believed to be at a sensitive stage in the proceedings, with Ms George handling her legal affairs by video link from her hospital bedside.
Ironically, the Queenslander is also in Brisbane - where van Onselen was on Sunday - while she is being treated at a facility close to her parents' home.
The latest row comes after allegations of the divided Canberra newsroom at war were revealed in court filings and a series of old tweets from both sides of the row.
In the Federal Court lawsuit, Ms George alleges a number of grievances including:
Being told to apologise to van Onselen for complaining about having to write his stories Van Onselen refusing to talk to her and communicating by text message Being made to move desks so van Onselen could prove he was the boss And accuses him of being 'rude, intemperate, condescending and patronising'Ms George claims she was then effectively hounded out of Ten after overhearing sexist remarks in a conversation about Ms Todorovic.
The lawsuit alleges van Onselen and executive editor Anthony Murdoch set out to build up another reporter, Stela Todorovic, (pictured) into a star ahead Ms George
Ms George reported the conversation but refused to file a complaint, sparking a showdown with station management which ultimately led to the lawsuit.
