The Fair Work Commission has rejected the ABC’s claims in its case against journalist Antoinette Lattouf, ruling that she was sacked by the national broadcaster last year.
The decision has been praised by Lattouf and her defenders, including the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), while the ABC said it will “continue to defend” Lattouf’s claims in the Federal Court of Australia.
In January this year, the ABC filed its defence to a complaint made to the Commission by Lattouf, who claimed her employment as a fill-in host on ABC Radio Sydney in December 2023 was unfairly terminated based on her political opinion and race.
In its defence, the ABC denied that Lattouf was sacked from her short-term employment. However, deputy president of the Commission, Gerard Boyce, dismissed this defence in his judgment, delivered on Monday morning.
“In this case, I find that the employment relationship between the applicant and the ABC, was terminated at the ABC’s initiative,” the judgment reads.
Lattouf said she is pleased with the outcome, which now allows her to pursue the case in the Federal Court of Australia.
“I believe the ABC’s challenge was a waste of taxpayers’ money, causing unnecessary delays in my pursuit of truth and justice,” Lattouf said in a statement.
“I remain bitterly disappointed that I was fired for posting a fact that ABC itself was also reporting, namely a report of Human Rights Watch about starvation used as a tool of war.”
“I remain committed to achieving a just outcome in this matter, for me and a free and fair press.”
What happened?
Lattouf was employed with the ABC for a short-term, fill-in role on ABC Radio Sydney, commencing on December 18 until December 22, 2023.
According to evidence given in the Commission hearing, Lattouf had a conversation with the ABC Sydney Content Director, Elizabeth Green after her first shift on December 18.
In this conversation, Green told Lattouf that the ABC had received “heaps of complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists who are not happy that we have out you on-air”.
In January, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on leaked text messages in a WhatsApp group chat called Lawyers for Israel, revealing how members of the group were writing to the ABC calling for Lattouf to be taken off the air.
Green advised Lattouf to stop posting on social media on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, unless it was from a “reputable” source with “facts”.
The following day, on December 19, Lattouf shared an Instagram post from the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which claimed the Israeli government is using starvation as a weapon of war in the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
ABC’s Chief Content Officer, Christopher Oliver-Taylor – “consulting with others at the ABC”, according to the Commission judgment – found Lattouf sharing the Instagram post was a breach of ABC social media policy and wrote to ABC Managing Director David Anderson that he had “no option but to stand her down”.
On December 20, Lattouf was called into a meeting with ABC management at the end of her shift and was dismissed, no longer required to work her final two shifts of her short-term employment.
That same week, ABC News wrote an article on the same HRW report that Lattouf shared on her Instagram.
Lattouf’s complaint to the Commission claimed the ABC terminated her employment based on her race and her political opinion, a claim that the national broadcaster denied. However, the Commission ultimately ruled in favour of Lattouf.
If you read the Fair Work Commission decision that confirmed that the ABC sacked @antoinette_news , you will see that the ABC argued that it merely “varied” Antoinette’s “duties to nil”. Unsurprisingly the argument was rejected.
— Josh Bornstein (@JoshBBornstein) June 3, 2024
In a statement, the ABC denied it acted “on the basis of Ms Lattouf’s political opinion, race and/or national extraction or social origin”.
“In response to the claim before the Commission, the ABC maintains that it acted on the basis of a belief that Ms Lattouf had not complied with a direction in relation to her use of social media,” the ABC said. “Those matters were not the subject of today’s decision.”
“The ABC will continue to defend the claims by Ms Lattouf in the Federal Court.”
Reactions
Lattouf remains committed to fighting for “a just outcome”, following the ordeal.
“An unprecedented amount of journalists have been targeted and killed in Palestine. Countless journalists in Australia are also under attack. The truth isn’t always convenient or comfortable, but it doesn’t stop being factual,” Lattouf said in a statement.
“I am enormously grateful for the support I have received from many of my peers, the MEAA, my legal team and community members.
“I remain passionate about an ABC that is fearless, independent and not brittle and susceptible to external pressure.”
Michelle Rae, the acting director of MEAA Media, said the media union organisation stands with Lattouf and is calling for Chris Oliver-Taylor, the ABC’s Head of Content, to step down from his role immediately.
Congratulations to @antoinette_news for standing your ground when you were sacked by the ABC. This is an important outcome for the right of journalists to do their jobs with #NoFearNoFavour. #MEAAmedia https://t.co/XXatplL0cY
— MEAA (@withMEAA) June 3, 2024
“Australians expect and deserve an ABC that is home to a range of ideas and opinions reflective of the diversity of Australian society, which is why Antoinette Lattouf was employed in the first place,” Rae said.
“When she became the subject of a covert campaign to have her dismissed because of her views on the war in Gaza, the ABC should have backed her to the hilt. Instead, she was sacked with just a few minutes notice.
“The mishandling of Antoinette Lattouf’s employment has done enormous damage to the integrity and reputation of the ABC and undermined the confidence of editorial staff in the organisation’s senior management.”
Rae said the sacking of Lattouf is reflective of a “pattern” of the ABC failing to support its culturally diverse journalists “when they face criticism from lobby groups, business organisations and politicians”.
“In the wake of the Fair Work Commission decision, the position of the person who authorised Ms Lattouf’s sacking, Chris Oliver-Taylor, is now totally untenable,” Rae said. “He should step down immediately from his role as the ABC’s Head of Content.”
Last night, on the ABC’s program Q+A, Australian international human rights lawyer and author Jen Robinson defended Lattouf’s act of sharing the HRW social media post, which highlighted “the very thing that Netanyahu is being sought for prosecution at the ICC”.
“She was sacked from her job for sharing human rights information. That is unacceptable. That ought to be protected by free speech,” Robinson said.
“And frankly, I think there is real concern about people who are concerned about sharing their views about Palestine… and we know from leaked text messages there was a Zionist lobby campaign to have her removed from the ABC.
“The ABC did not have the backbone to support her and support the free speech of their journalists. That is a problem in our democracy.”