The ABC has denied Antoinette Lattouf’s claim that she was sacked from her short-term employment with the national broadcaster.
Lattouf’s lawyer Josh Bornstein posted a statement on X confirming the “backflip” in the ABC’s defence.
“The ABC has filed an amended response to Antoinette’s case that now says it did not sack her,” Bornstein wrote. “This contrasts its original filed response which confirmed that it terminated her employment.”
On January 15, the ABC filed its defence to Lattouf’s complaint with the Fair Work Commission. Lattouf, an Australian broadcaster, columnist and presenter, accused the ABC of terminating her employment as a fill-in host on ABC Radio Sydney in December based on her political opinion and her race.
In its original defence, the ABC said it decided “not to require” Lattouf to see out the remainder of her five-day contract in a meeting on December 20, two days after she began the short stint on RN Breakfast.
The national media outlet said she was sacked because of a social media post from Human Rights Watch that she reshared on Instagram. The post said Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The ABC said Lattouf “failed or refused to comply with directions that she not post on social media about matters of controversy during the short period she was presenting”.
However, the ABC have reportedly amended their response to the Fair Work Commission case, denying termination of Lattouf’s employment altogether.
Lattouf posted on X responding to the reports. “If I wasn’t sacked, what was it?” she wrote.
“I’m keen to hear all the creative euphemisms that will be used to try and explain this backflip to me, ABC staff as well as Australians who are very concerned about their public broadcaster.
“Was I unshackled? Liberated? Untied? Subjected to workplace imbalance correction? The facts are, I was sacked, when the audience and my producers were expecting me to return.”
An ABC spokesperson told Women’s Agenda: “It was clear on the evidence provided in the ABC’s response to Ms Lattouf’s claim that she had not been terminated. The jurisdictional objection was formalised as soon as it became clear the matter had not resolved.”
‘It’s about racism.’
Mediation between the ABC and Lattouf was unsuccessful as the two parties reached a stalemate last Thursday. Following the mediation talks, Lattouf spoke to reporters outside of her lawyers’ office in Sydney.
“The fight continues, and I’m willing and prepared to fight for as long as it takes,” she said last week.
This is such an important case because it’s not just about me. It’s about free speech. It’s about racism. It’s about the important role journalists play in truth-telling and, crucially, it’s also about a fair, independent and robust ABC.”
Last week, around 80 journalists at the ABC Sydney headquarters gathered and demanded answers from managing director David Anderson. The staff threatened industrial action over how the national broadcaster treats its culturally diverse journalists.
Several ABC journalists have been outspoken on unfair treatment of culturally diverse staff at the national broadcaster, including Nour Haydar, who resigned from the ABC earlier this month, and Stan Grant, who stepped down from his role of Q+A host last year.
Lattouf will be crowdfunding her legal fees through the GoFundMe page #WeStandWithAntoinette, organised by former political journalist Lauren Dubois.
“We stand with Antoinette and support the rights of workers to be able to share news that expresses an opinion or reinforces a fact, without fear of retribution,” Dubois wrote.
The GoFundMe page has received nearly 2,000 donations and raised more than $82,000.