Journalist Antoinette Lattouf’s unfair dismissal claim against the ABC will go to trial after mediation talks collapsed following her dismissal for an anti-Israel post.
Lattouf called Tuesday’s failed mediation attempts at the public broadcaster “incredibly disheartening” but said she would not quit her campaign.
“Despite how hard this has been for me and how unfair it is, let me be clear: I will not stop,” she said in a statement on social media.
‘I will not stop fighting for press freedom. I will not stop fighting for human rights.
“I will not stop fighting for a courageous and independent ABC, a public broadcaster that does not bow to lobby groups.”
Presenter Antoinette Lattouf sues the ABC for unfair dismissal (photo arrival at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney)
Ms Lattouf claims she was unlawfully dismissed from the ABC after sharing a post from Human Rights Watch on social media that said: ‘HRW reports famine is an instrument of war’
Lattouf was contracted by the ABC to fill in on the morning radio program in Sydney between December 18 and 22.
But she was fired three days into her contract after sharing a Human Rights Watch post on her Instagram page alleging that the Israeli government was using famine as a weapon of war in Gaza.
She subsequently brought an unfair dismissal case against the broadcaster in the Federal Court and the Fair Work Commission.
In a claim submitted to the court, Lattouf alleged that the ABC breached its own enterprise agreement and fair employment laws by terminating her contract when she had not engaged in misconduct.
She claimed that an ABC executive told her that the broadcaster had received “a large number of complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists” about her being on air before her dismissal.
The journalist said she was advised at the meeting that she should “keep a low profile on Twitter” but could post information from reputable sources such as Amnesty International.
Previous attempts by the ABC to argue that Lattouf was not ‘terminated’ within the meaning of the relevant law because she was on a temporary contract were rejected by the Fair Work Commission.
The ABC declined to comment on the case.