Antoinette Lattouf has thanked the “millions” of Australians who stood by her in her wrongful termination case against the ABC.
Lattouf was hosting the national broadcaster’s ABC Sydney Mornings radio show when she was fired on December 20.
She had been in the role for three days and had two days left to go when she was fired after breaching the ABC’s social media policy regarding posts about the conflict in the Middle East.
Lattouf had shared a message related to a human rights report accusing Israelis of “using civilian starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.”
She then launched a Fair Work claim, claiming she was dismissed because of her political views and her Lebanese heritage.
The ABC and Lattouf met for a closed Fair Work Commission hearing in Sydney on Thursday morning.
Antoinette Lattouf leaves a Fair Work Commission hearing in Sydney on Thursday
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Lattouf said that although the case has not yet been resolved, she will continue to fight.
“I am ready and willing to fight for as long as it takes and I want to take a moment to thank the millions of people across the country for the outpouring of support from across the country, as well as abroad,” she said.
“This is such an important matter because it’s not just about me. It’s about freedom of expression, it’s about racism, it’s about the important role journalists play in telling the truth, and it’s also about a fair, independent and robust ABC.”
Lattouf said she “loved the broadcaster” and would always “advocate and fight” for an ABC that would “inform and entertain the masses without fear or favour”.
The broadcaster has hit back at Lattouf’s claim, saying it was “unfounded” and “fundamentally and completely misconceived.”
The broadcaster claimed that “any ‘political views’ expressed by (Lattouf) were completely irrelevant to (and played no part in) the ABC’s decision,” according to legal documents filed with Fair Work.
‘The ABC decided not to require (Lattouf) to perform the last two of her five shifts as an informal presenter because (she) had failed or refused to comply with directions she had not posted on social media during the short period about controversial issues. she presented a radio program on the radio station ‘ABC Sydney,'” the defense statement said.
The broadcaster’s response came shortly after it emerged that a coordinated campaign by Jewish lawyers had tried to have Lattouf fire her.
Secret WhatsApp messages from a 156-strong Australian group called Lawyers for Israel revealed how they bombarded ABC chairman Ita Buttrose with emails threatening legal action unless the presenter was fired.
Antoinette Lattouf has thanked the ‘millions’ of Australians who stood by her in her wrongful dismissal case against the ABC after she was fired three days after being fired
Lattouf, who is described in her Fair Work claim as a ‘multi-award-winning journalist, with many years of experience in television, radio and podcast news and current affairs’, has so far raised almost $54,000 for her legal battle.
The ABC’s defense also said: ‘The suggestion that the ABC took action against (Lattouf) on the basis of her race, national origin or social origin is abhorrent.’
“In any event, it appears that (Lattouf) is attempting to bring an unfair dismissal claim under the guise of an unfair dismissal claim because she is unable to bring an unfair dismissal claim.”
On Tuesday afternoon, about 80 ABC employees at the organization’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney are said to have threatened to stage a strike over concerns about “outside interference” and the organization’s handling of complaints against staff.
‘MEAA media members at the ABC today called on director David Anderson to urgently meet with staff and address growing concerns about outside interference and culturally unsafe management practices and to stand up for journalism without fear or favour’ , the union wrote on X.
That same day, Lattouf shared (and later deleted) a post to her Instagram account from comedian Dan Ilic, who wrote, “This saga will end with the firing of Ita (Buttrose) and David Anderson because they forgot what their job was.”
Lattouf, who is described in her Fair Work claim as a ‘multi-award-winning journalist, with many years of experience in television, radio and podcast news and current affairs’, has so far raised almost $54,000 for her legal battle.