Sacked journalist Antoinette Lattouf to continue fight against ABC after her complaint was not resolved at a Fair Work Commission meeting
The sacked radio host vows to continue to fight the taxpayer-funded broadcaster following her sacking last month after posting on social media about the Israel-Hamas war.
Sacked radio host Antoinette Lattouf’s unlawful termination claim against the ABC remains unresolved after a mediation hearing on Thursday, with the journalist vowing to continue her fight against “racism”, and to defend her right to “free speech”.
Lattouf claims she was unlawfully sacked on December 20 as a fill-in radio host for ABC Sydney due to the expression of political opinions, and because of her race.
The matter was heard in the Fair Work Commission but after the 90-minute conciliation failed to reach a resolution, Lattouf spoke of her determination to fight for “truth-telling in journalism”.
“I won’t stop. I will fight as long as I need to,” Lattouf said in a statement.
“It’s about free speech. It’s about racism. It’s about the importance of truth telling in journalism. It’s about the need for a strong, representative and independent ABC.”
Lattouf’s comments come after ABC managing director David Anderson said on Wednesday the taxpayer-funded organisation is “proud of our high standards of independent journalism” and “adhering to our responsibilities of impartiality and accuracy.”
Mr Anderson remains under pressure by ABC staff and union representatives after they requested he meet with them in person to explain why she was sacked.
Lattouf was scheduled to fill in for regular ABC Sydney host Sarah Macdonald for five days prior to Christmas, but was sacked after her third shift. In her FWC claim, Lattouf alleges she was unlawfully terminated for breaching the ABC’s social media guidelines after sharing a post by Human Rights Watch about the war that read: “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza.”
Fair Work documents state that the ABC’s chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor made the decision she should not perform her last two shifts that week after she shared the post.
In the ABC’s written defence seen by The Australian, it said “any ‘political opinion’ held by the applicant was entirely irrelevant” to her job termination and no action was taken against her because of her race.
Lattouf is being represented by Maurice Blackburn’s Josh Bornstein and in a statement this month he said he would be seeking a “detailed, public apology and compensation for harm to reputation and for distress and humiliation”.
He also said “Antoinette will seek an order that the ABC offer her a commensurate role back on air.”
Lattouf said she had received support in Australia and internationally and her online crowd-funding plea — that was set up to help pay for her legal fees — has received more than $65,500 in donations from more than 1500 people.
“I love the ABC, I always have. I will always advocate for a public broadcaster that operates without fear or favour,” she said.
“The reason millions of people are invested in this case is because it’s about so much more than me.”
The next steps in the matter are yet to be announced.
The ABC declined to comment.
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