The former chief executive of The Wiggles claims he was undermined by the blue Wiggle in front of staff after raising concerns about friends and family members being employed by the children’s entertainment group.
Luke O’Neill says he was denied bonuses and excluded from meetings before being dismissed with no reasonable basis in documents filed with the Federal Court.
He has launched legal action against The Wiggles, as well as Blue Wiggle Anthony Field and the group’s general counsel Matthew Salgo.
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Field questioned O’Neill’s competence and “undermined him” in front of more than a dozen staff at a meeting in February, the documents claim.
O’Neill then complained to Luke Field, the Blue Wiggle’s nephew and the group’s general manager commercial, about his uncle’s behaviour in the meeting.
It came months after the chief executive complained about a different nephew being hired to work on the production of upcoming album The Tree of Wisdom.
O’Neill also took issue with Field implementing a bonus scheme for a friend and his daughter’s boyfriend “without approval and in contrast with the usual employee bonus scheme,” according to the documents.
Field then allegedly took steps to reduce O’Neill’s roles and responsibilities.
That included excluding him from meetings with department store Kmart about selling branded toys, and emailing all staff about an intention to remove a tour promoter without prior consultation.
O’Neill made multiple other complaints about staffing and other decisions allegedly made by Field without approval.
He eventually complained to the group’s director, Red Wiggle Simon Pryce, in April that the decisions were creating budget overruns, endangering his bonus.
Pryce agreed his performance justified a raise after the three-decade-old group’s earnings increased from $2 million in the 2023 financial year to a forecast $6.5 million to $7 million in 2025.
But O’Neill was dismissed in May.
He alleges the dismissal was unlawful and an adverse action for him exercising his workplace rights and came with no reasonable basis, prior warning, adverse feedback or performance management.
A bonus payment of more than $86,000, made in July, was less than what he alleges he was owed.
Field, Salgo and The Wiggles are yet to file their defence.
The case is due in court for its first hearing on September 8.
O’Neill began working for The Wiggles in a consultancy role in April 2023 before becoming chief executive in January 2024, tasked with implementing strategies to grow the group’s revenue, maintain the budget and oversee hiring decisions.
The Wiggles formed in 1991 and are among Australia’s top-earning and most widely beloved entertainment groups, winning multiple ARIA awards and being inducted in its hall of fame in 2011.
Field is the last remaining member of the original line-up, which has expanded over time.
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