Nick Styant-Browne -- a former equity partner at the firm, where Ms Gillard worked until 1996 -- alleged in The Australian newspaper that the PM left her job at the firm as a direct result of an investigation into her relationship with the Australian Workers Union.

Home renovations

Mr Styant-Browne claimed that because of her relationship with the union’s then leader, Bruce Wilson, Ms Gillard -- who was advising the union -- was involved in a scam that financially contributed to the renovations of her house.
Radio Australia reported that Ms Gillard denied the claims as ‘malicious nonsense’, which had trickled into the press from on-line blogs. She stated that ‘I’m not getting into specifics about issues 17 years ago when you are not able to put to me any contention about why this is relevant to my conduct as prime minister today’, further condemning the allegations as a ‘distraction’ from her work.

Internal investigation

The firm itself supported Ms Gillard’s claims, according to newspaper The Age. In a statement it said that an internal firm investigation had cleared Ms Gillard of the allegations, claiming that ‘the review found nothing which contradicted the information provided by Ms Gillard’, and clarifying that she left the firm to pursue a political career.
Nonetheless, the scandal has provoked criticism from opposition politicians, who are calling for a full statement from the Prime Minister about her resignation from Slater & Gordon.