Revelations about an email from a State Government chief of staff that allegedly referred to a female employee as “Kim Jong Lard” were contained in a detailed legal letter sent to the Premier’s office last year.

The letter, dated November 20, also named the Deputy Premier and Health Minister Roger Cook as part of the employee’s complaint that followed her sacking by the Government.

But Premier Mark McGowan said yesterday that the first he knew of the email was on Friday, when The West Australian asked his office questions about it.

“To the best of my knowledge I found out about that on Friday,” he said. “I understood last year — and I don’t recall when — that there was a personality issue in the office of Roger Cook.”

Mr Cook’s chief of staff, Erik Locke, who allegedly sent the email and a text message suggesting how media adviser Jane Grljusich could pay for liposuction, quit on Friday ahead of the story breaking in The Weekend West. He had remained chief of staff despite details of the email and text message being known to the Premier’s office and a number of Cabinet ministers for more than three months.

“It was referred to an independent inquiry,” Mr McGowan said yesterday.

“The Department of the Premier and Cabinet have handled this issue. It wasn’t something I made decisions about.”

He also said he was assured the sacking of Ms Grljusich had nothing to do with her taking issue with the chief of staff’s email and text message.

“I don’t want to get into the business of character assassination and so I really don’t want to, and I won’t, make comments about the individuals involved,” Mr McGowan said. “My understanding is there were other issues, unrelated issues, that resulted in that outcome.”

Ms Grljusich said yesterday that she made the Government’s head of media aware of the issues she had with Mr Locke in early November, when the then-chief of staff wanted her relocated to another office.

“I followed up several times about this before I was terminated on November 8,” she said. “A letter outlining some of the treatment I endured was sent to the Premier on November 20.”

An external consultant is still investigating the claims about the chief of staff and whether Ms Grljusich was unfairly dealt with before her sacking.

Mr McGowan said Mr Locke offered his resignation on Friday and it was accepted. The Premier said he was confident the Health Minister’s office would not be affected by Mr Locke’s departure. “Health is well run and the minister is experienced and committed,” he said.