He is Australia’s second highest ranked military officer and she is the ex-wife claiming her ex-husband, Defence Force Vice Chief Ray Griggs, breached department policy.
In October 2014 Kerrie Griggs told investigators that her then-husband confessed he was leaving her for navy public relations officer Chloe Wootten.
Ms Griggs has now produced a love letter that she says implies that their affair existed months before she or the Defence Force were told, reports The Australian.
The alleged love letter Vice Admiral Ray Griggs penned to Chloe Wootten (pictured)
Kerrie Griggs claims ex-husband Ray Griggs (pictured) breached Defence department policy
Defence personnel are required to disclose to supervisors and take reasonable steps to avoid any conflicts of interests in connection with their official duties.
Official instructions state: ‘Sexual behaviour or sexual acts are never appropriate in the workplace [and] it is the responsibility of the commander or manager to maintain and model the standard of behaviour consistent with the Defence’.
One love letter, pieced together by Ms Griggs after she found them in a recycling bin, referred to a ‘cold June day’ and another starts ‘Why? It’s the age-old question, why you and me?’
Ms Griggs (pictured) told investigators her ex-husband informed her about his affair in October 2014 – but the love letter proves the relationship began months before
Ms Griggs alleges her ex-husband (left) created a position that was later given to Commander Wootten (right)
‘That first kiss on the couch,’ the letter reads. ‘Was it your tender touch? Is it your giggle, your smile, your laugh … is it the curve of your thigh, the taste of your desire?’
In a Senate estimates hearing last month the court heard two investigations were carried out into the ‘changed personal circumstances’ of Mr Griggs at the time, and that it was decided he did not breach any Defence Department policies when he married Ms Wootten.
But Ms Griggs alleges her ex-husband created a position that was later given to Commander Wootten and there was a conflict of interest in the ‘sequences of events’ surrounding the promotion.
Ms Griggs alleges that when Mr Griggs (pictured) told her about his relationship with Ms Wootten he suggested a ‘three-phase plan’
A later investigation about the promotion and their relationship did flag up concerns about how Mr Griggs dealt with his ex-wife.
In her complaint, Ms Griggs alleges that when Mr Griggs told her about his relationship with Ms Wootten he suggested a three-phase plan: firstly Mr Griggs would pay his ex-wife to leave their home; Ms Wootten would then leave her husband and finally the pair would get together.
She said Vice Admiral Griggs asked her to keep attending official functions with him – until the end of November 2014 – to ‘ keep up appearances’.
Ms Griggs wrote that she was ‘disturbed’ by her husband’s alleged keenness to ‘engage in such premeditated deception’ and chose ‘not to cooperate’.
She also said while Mr Griggs was on holiday with Commander Wootten he sent his Chief of Staff to supervise her move out of their home – leaving her feeling ‘humiliated and intimidated’.
The ADF inspector who conducted the later investigation in response to Ms Griggs complaints said that while ‘nothing that occurred was unreasonable… the matter could have been better handled’.
Two investigations have already been carried out into the ‘changed personal circumstances’ of Mr Griggs and conclused that he was not in breach of policies (stock image: Defence Ministry)