A court is set to decide whether political staffer Sally Rugg can continue working for Monique Ryan while she pursues legal action against the independent MP.
Ms Rugg, Dr Ryan's chief of staff, applied to the Federal Court for an urgent injunction to stop the teal MP from ending her employment after lawyers allege she pushed her into resigning.
Dr Ryan disputes Ms Rugg's claims that she dismissed her, effective January 31, after she refused to work unreasonable hours for the member for Kooyong.
Justice Debra Mortimer is due to hand down her decision on Tuesday morning, after Ms Rugg's lawyers pleaded for the court to allow her to continuing working as an advisor, doing policy and media work.
Dr Ryan and the Commonwealth both argued against Ms Rugg keeping her job, in a hearing on Friday, saying their relationship had broken down and likened the legal fight to "trench warfare".
Ms Rugg has lodged an unfair dismissal claim against the MP and the Commonwealth, which includes allegations she was asked to work more than 70 hours a week on a salary of $166,000.
She is seeking compensation and pecuniary penalties from both parties and has added serious contraventions of the Fair Work Act against the Commonwealth to her dispute
She claimed, in court documents, Dr Ryan said "this is bigger than Kooyong" and that she needed to know her staff were prepared to work hard for her if "I want to be prime minister one day".
