Australia’s national broadcaster has been asked to pay A$150,000 (£73,435) to a presenter for unfairly firing her over a social media post on Gaza.
Radio host Antoninette Lattouf was unlawfully sacked by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from the air in December 2023 over her political views in efforts made by pro-Israel groups, a legal suit found earlier this year in the Australian Federal Court said.
Justice Darryl Rangiah on Wednesday pronounced the order and said Lattouf’s rights were “surrendered” by the national broadcaster for the interests of a lobby group.
The broadcaster has been penalised for breaching the Fair Work Act and the ABC’s enterprise agreement, the court noted.
Lattouf has been vocal as an activist on issues like racism, discrimination in media, and mental health and regularly reported in Australian media for years.
The incident took place when she was hired by the ABC Radio Sydney Morning’s show for a week-long role but was fired after three weeks after she shared a post on Israel weaponising starvation in its war against Gaza.
The radio host did not make any comment but shared a post from the Human Rights Watch which accused Israel of using starvation as a tool of war. The accusation has been backed by the International Criminal Court which says there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel has deployed starvation of millions in the war-battered region as a tactic.
Israel has denied the allegation.
According to the ABC during the trial, Lattouf breached the broadcaster’s editorial policy as she was instructed to not talk about the war on social media.
However, the Federal Court found out that the ABC had never given such an instruction to Lattouf regarding social media posts.
Justice Rangiah said that while the host’s Instagram story was “ill-advised”, she was fired with “no more than a suspicion” that she “may” have violated a policy or guideline and given no opportunity to defend herself.
Reporting on the judgment, the ABC said the court previously found that Lattouf had been given “advice”, and that it “would be best not to post anything controversial about Gaza, as opposed to a direction not to do so”.
It was unclear how Lattouf’s sacking was shared in the media.
There was a clear “orchestrated” campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have the radio host removed from the broadcast right from the outset of her employment, and she was sacrificed by ABC management in a bid to mitigate the criticism, Justice Rangiah said on Wednesday while delivering the judgment.
“The ABC let down the Australian public badly when it abjectly surrendered the rights of its employee… to appease a lobby group,” the Justice said.
Lattouf was already awarded A$70,000 in damages for hurt and distress by the Australian national broadcaster but the court said the “substantial” extra sum was needed to ensure the ABC understood the message and that the sum be paid to her within 28 days.
The judge pointed out that the “primary motivation for the termination of Lattouf’s employment” by the ABC was to avoid criticism from political lobbyists, the media and sections of the public.
“The public scrutiny the ABC has faced must surely have brought home to the ABC the unacceptability of its contravening conduct. Nevertheless, I consider that substantial penalties are necessary to ensure that the message is received and heeded.”
“The ABC and others cannot be allowed to regard a penalty as an acceptable price to pay or staving off criticism,” Justice Rangiah said.
The court said that the ABC’s failure to probe who leaked the information of Lattouf’s expulsion from its network detracts from the broadcaster’s contrition and public apology.
The court also noted that the episode has caused “very significant consequences” for the prominent Australian journalist.
The senior official at the ABC said they extend a “sincere apology” once again and will reflect on the court’s findings.
“It was not handled in line with our values and expectations and Lattouf, our staff and the public were let down. We take the matter seriously and have reflected on the lessons learned and their implications. We must be better,” ABC managing director Hugh Marks said in a statement.
He added: “I would like to reiterate the ABC’s sincere apology to Lattouf and wish her all the best in the future.”
