Antoinette Lattouf has won unfair dismissal case against ABC

A Federal Court judge has ruled that the ABC wrongly dismissed journalist Antoinette Lattouf as a fill-in radio host in December 2023.

Lattouf sued the public broadcaster after she was dismissed for sharing a post from the Human Rights Watch (HRW) that accused the Israeli Government of “using starvation as a tool of war”. The ABC argued it dismissed Lattouf because she breached their social media guidelines.

Justice Darryl Rangiah has today ruled that the ABC breached the Fair Work Act. He ordered the public broadcaster to pay the journalist $70,000.

Background

Lattouf, who is Lebanese-Australian, is a broadcaster and author who founded the not-for-profit Media Diversity Australia.

The journalist was hired to host ABC Sydney radio from 18-22 December. Her contract was terminated over a HRW post she shared on social media. The post had accused Israel of using starvation as a tool of war in Gaza. The ABC had also reported on HRW’s claims.

Lattouf was dismissed on 20 December, two days before her contract was due to end.

Dismissal

The ABC said Lattouf was “directed” not to post about “matters of contention”. The broadcaster argued that Lattouf had breached this by sharing the HRW post.

Following this, Lattouf brought action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s workplace tribunal, where she accused the ABC of wrongfully firing her.

The Commission found Lattouf was dismissed, but did not rule on whether it was ‘unfair’. It allowed her to escalate her complaint to the Federal Court (this is the ruling handed down today).

Judgement

Lattouf had argued she was wrongfully dismissed based on three reasons:

Holding a political opinion
Race
National extraction (identity)

Today, Justice Rangiah ruled the ABC had unlawfully terminated her contract on the basis that Lattouf held “political opinions opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.”

However, he did not accept Lattouf’s second and third arguments that she was dismissed because of her race or national extraction.

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Instead, Justice Rangiah ruled Lattouf was dismissed because senior ABC figures, including then-Chair Ita Buttrose, were concerned Lattouf’s employment “could damage public perception of the impartiality of the ABC”.

“The decision was made to appease the pro-Israel lobbyists who would inevitably escalate their complaints about the ABC employing a presenter they perceived to have anti-Semitic and anti-Israel opinions in such a public position,” the ruling stated.

The ruling said Lattouf was dismissed “to mitigate further complaints”.

Social media

Part of the tension of the case revolved around whether Lattouf was “directed” not to post on social media about the war.

Justice Rangiah ruled Lattouf was not given a “direction or instruction”.

Instead, the ruling stated that Lattouf was “merely provided advice” not to post about the war, but that she was told she could post “factual information from reputable sources”.

Compensation

The judge ruled the ABC pay Lattouf $70,000 for non-economic losses.

The judge accepted a psychologist’s evidence detailing Lattouf’s “great distress” following the dismissal.

Justice Ranigah determined Lattouf’s distress was “unsurprising” due to her short-notice termination and not being “given any opportunity to answer the allegations against her” by the ABC.

The judge ruled: “Any person would feel utterly dismayed and humiliated in those circumstances.”

Next steps

A separate hearing will determine the “pecuniary penalty” (a type of fine) for the ABC to pay. Lattouf’s lawyers have said they’ll seek a “significant penalty”.

Lattouf also requested that ABC acknowledge its wrongdoing.

Outside court, Lattouf told media: “I was punished for my political opinion.”

In a statement, the ABC's Managing Director Hugh Marks said: "it's clear the matter was not handled in line with our values and expectations."

"Any undue influence or pressure on ABC management or any of its employees must always be guarded against."