Reports of alleged artificial adjustments in performance ratings and a secret redundancy program has put the corporate news and gossip website, Firm Spy, in trouble with two law firms.

Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Clayton Utz, two of Australia's most prestigious law firms, have barred their staff from accessing Firm Spy site. Both firms have branded the site as “irresponsible and inaccurate.”

The ban at Mallesons took effect days before the site reported explosive allegations that the firm was artificially adjusting performance ratings to justify lower pay rises. At Clayton Utz, the ban was implemented around the time the site ran an article alleging the firm ran a secret redundancy program that resulted in more than 100 lawyers leaving the company.

The firms denied the allegations and considered the site as a publisher of lies. Both firms said the site authors write without first seeking right of reply.

Firm Spy explained it is a mere provider of informal sources of news for junior employees. The site authors and publishers combine reader tips and newspaper reports in order to deliver news and gossip about corporate workplaces.

The site averages around 10,000 hits each working day. According to the site, the increased traffic is due to the information they expose that firms wanted to keep secret.

“To our minds, the decision to block us is...a very short-sighted one, given that employees who feel restraint in sending us info over the (ostensibly monitored) work computer, will feel no such concern when doing so from their personal computer/phone,” the site claimed.