By Calum Jaspan
The ABC’s former chair Ita Buttrose and outgoing managing director David Anderson were key decision-makers in the sacking of Antoinette Lattouf, her lawyers will argue in a high-profile dispute.
Lattouf’s legal team updated its statement of claim on Monday morning after all evidence related to the looming Federal Court trial was filed. They now argue that Buttrose and Anderson were central figures in her December 2023 dismissal.
Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose and presenter Antoinette Lattouf.Credit: Louie Douvis; ABC
“It’s our contention and will be our contention that Ms Buttrose, the chair of the ABC, and Mr Anderson, the managing director, were either themselves decision-makers or materially involved in the decision-making process,” Lattouf’s barrister Philip Boncardo told the Federal Court hearing.
The ABC will argue that its chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, was ultimately the sole decision-maker.
“The respondent’s case is that the decision-maker was Mr Oliver Taylor, and it puts in issue any suggestion that there was either another or other decision-makers or that others had a material and legally significant involvement in the making of the decision,” said Ian Neil, SC, the ABC’s barrister.
Lattouf has brought the case against ABC, arguing she was unlawfully terminated based on political opinion and/or race and that the decision to end her contract contravened the public broadcaster’s enterprise agreement.
“We see from the respondent’s affidavits that a number of documents which go to the decision-making process involving, which [...] led to my client’s termination, including various complaints which were received by persons external to the ABC who engaged in what would perhaps be described as a campaign against my client, have been put into evidence,” Boncardo said.
Lattouf was taken off-air three days into a five-day contract to cover the ABC’s Sydney Radio Mornings show last December after she shared a Human Rights Watch post on Instagram with the caption “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war”. In her Fair Work submission, Lattouf claimed the ABC said the post had breached its social media policies and cited it in its reasons for her dismissal.
The Fair Work application also contended she was told by one of her managers that Jewish lobbyists were “unhappy” she was on air because she had previously publicly criticised Israel.
In January, this masthead reported the contents of a pro-Israel WhatsApp group showing organised efforts to target the ABC, in particular Buttrose and Anderson, with complaints about Lattouf and her views on the conflict in Gaza.
As of last week, all evidence related to the case had been filed, including signed affidavits from nine individuals related to the ABC, including Anderson and Buttrose. Both are expected to be required to be cross-examined when the case is heard in February, Boncardo said.
Both parties have made settlement offers to date, with each being rejected. The ABC rejected Lattouf’s recent settlement request of $85,000, a public apology and reinstatement as a fill-in radio presenter and put forward an undisclosed counteroffer.
The case moved to the Federal Court after the Fair Work Commission ruled that Lattouf had, in fact, been sacked. The ABC has argued she was not sacked and, therefore, the case should be thrown out.
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