A casual ABC radio host will be paid $70,000 in damages by the national broadcaster for her unlawful dismissal after she was taken off air over a post on the conflict in Gaza.
Antoinette Lattouf was hired for a week-long stint on ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program before Christmas 2023.
She was let go after sharing a Human Rights Watch post that said Israel was using starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
The 41-year-old took her unlawful termination case to the Federal Court and Justice Darryl Rangiah handed down his judgment in a courtroom full of her supporters on Wednesday.
The judge ordered the ABC to pay $70,000 in compensation to Lattouf.
A potential pecuniary penalty will be determined at a later hearing.
He did not order any penalties against the national broadcaster as sought by the journalist.
During a hearing in February, she claimed she was fired from the job because of her race and political opinion after publicly commenting on the plight of Palestinians during the ongoing conflict with Israel
Justice Rangiah heard Lattouf was let go 48 hours into a campaign by a pro-Israeli group which sent a barrage of complaints to ABC executives including then-chair Ita Buttrose.
The public broadcaster was accused of taking a partisan view despite claiming to be an impartial news source.
However, the ABC denied this.
The broadcaster claimed it took Lattouf off the air because she failed to follow a direction not to post about Israel or the war in Gaza during her five-day shift.
She rejected this, saying her direct supervisor, Elizabeth Green, agreed she could post facts from reputable sources.
As well as Ms Buttrose, she also targeted the ABC’s former content chief Chris Oliver-Taylor and former managing director David Anderson as being responsible for the allegedly unlawful termination.
She blamed the broadcaster for making her sacking public after an article in The Australian was put out before she had returned home the day she was fired.
ABC executives blamed head of capital city networks Steve Ahern for putting the organisation in an “unacceptable position” by failing to assess Lattouf’s history before hiring her, the court previously was told.
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