Antoinette Lattouf wins unlawful termination case against the ABC as federal court delivers judgment
The ABC breached the Fair Work Act when it removed casual broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf from a Sydney radio program because of a social media post about Gaza, justice Darryl Rangiah has found in a federal court judgment.
Rangiah upheld Lattouf's claim heard in the federal court in February that she was unlawfully terminated in December 2023 when her on-air shifts were cut short three days into a five-day stint hosting Sydney Mornings.
'The respondent, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (the ABC) contravened s772(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FWA) by terminating the employment of the applicant, Antoinette Lattouf, for reasons including that she held a political opinion opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza,' Rangiah wrote in the judgment.
The court ordered that the ABC pay Lattouf compensation of $70,000.
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Lattouf was removed after she shared an Instagram post from Human Rights Watch that said Israel had used starvation as a 'weapon of war' in Gaza.
Her case argued that she was the subject of a pro-Israel lobbying campaign, the purpose of which was to remove her from air because of her social media support of Palestinian human rights.
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However, the ABC said she was removed for not following a 'direction' not to post about the war while working for the ABC.
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Justice Rangiah found Lattouf was 'merely provided with advice that it would be best not to post anything controversial about the war' and was not given a direction not to post.
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