BY ADELAIDE LANG & ALEX MITCHELL for AAP
The ABC has been accused of paying lip service to an apology after arguing against a $350,000 fine for illegally sacking journalist Antoinette Lattouf.
Lattouf won an unlawful termination case against the national broadcaster in June after she was sacked from a casual role on ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program in 2023.
The Federal Court awarded Lattouf $70,000 in damages after she was dismissed three days into a five-day 2BL hosting stint, following a coordinated campaign of complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists to ABC management in Sydney.
Since then the ABC submitted it should be fined between $37,560 and $56,340, but Lattouf wants nearly 10 times that.
A fine of $300,000 to $350,000 was necessary to prevent future breaches, her lawyers told Justice Darryl Rangiah on Wednesday.
The journalist’s lawyers also criticised the broadcaster’s apology related to its handling of the decision to remove Lattouf as self-serving.
“The expressions of regret … are performative,” Oshie Fagir told the ABC’s chief people officer on Wednesday.
Deena Amorelli dismissed the claim, saying the court ruling had “reverberated throughout the organisation”.
However, she acknowledged the outcome was yet to prompt an inquiry into why Lattouf was sacked, including why the email complaints led to the illegal decision.
Remedial action taken by the ABC was limited to a one-hour training session delivered to the ABC board and executive leadership team, Ms Amorelli said.
“We have not conducted independent investigations,” she added.
“We have reflected on the decision handed down by Your Honour and the lessons learned from that.”
Justice Darryl Rangiah in June found the ABC breached employment law by dismissing the journalist for reasons that included her political opinions.
Lattouff, who has Lebanese heritage, shared a Human Rights Watch post saying Israel was using starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza before her position was terminated in December 2023.
Her lawyers on Wednesday argued the question yet to be determined was “what level of sting is needed” to ensure the ABC doesn’t repeat its behaviour when receiving complaints about an employee.
The $37,560 figure put forward by the ABC was “an infinitesimally small amount of money in context of the ABC’s financial and budgetary position,” Mr Fagir said, referencing the broadcaster’s $1.016 billion annual budget.
Lattouf offered to settle the case for $85,000 in August 2024, according to her lawyer Josh Bornstein after her damages award, along with other conditions including an apology and another five radio shifts.
But ABC managing director Hugh Marks previously said the extra radio slots were a sticking point because they could compromise editorial independence from external influence.
Justice Rangiah found the broadcaster was under pressure after an orchestrated campaign of complaints against Lattouf by a pro-Israel lobbyist group.
The ABC did not give her the chance to defend the allegations and instead showed her the door, the judge found.
