Antoinette Lattouf is pushing for the Federal Court to penalise ABC $300,000-$350,000 for unlawfully sacking her over a social media post advocating for Gaza.
On Wednesday, Lattouf returned to Federal Court in Sydney after Justice Darry Rangiah determined that the network had contravened the law by sacking her for “reasons including that she held a political opinion opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza” in late June.
During Wednesday’s penalty hearing, Lattouf asked the Federal Court to penalise the ABC $300,000-$350,000 for contraventions of the Fair Work Act.
“The seriousness of the contravening evinced, for instance, by its intentionality or recklessness, or the fact it involved members of senior management, will generally suggest that a higher penalty is necessary to achieve specific and general deterrence,” Lattouf’s court submission said, per the Australian Financial Review.
Lawyers for the network have argued that the financial penalty should be between $37,500 and $56,000.
Following Justice Rangiah’s decision in June, in which it found that the network did unlawfully sack Lattouf, ABC was ordered to pay “the appropriate award of compensation” of $70,000 to Lattouf.
Antoinette Lattouf says ABC has never issued a personal public apology
Ahead of the penalty hearing, Lattouf told reporters that she had yet to receive a public apology from the broadcaster.
“Well, the ABC are meant to be the good guys in the media, and I am a big believer and a big supporter of a fair and robust ABC,” she told reporters outside of court, per ABC News.
“I haven’t had a personal apology, a personal public apology, and all I want is for an ABC that is fair and that acts with integrity.”
Lattouf, who was on a casual five-day contract for ABC Radio Sydney, was fired three days after being on air in December 2023, after she shared a “controversial” social media post, which was a Human Rights Watch post about Gaza.
Months after Lattouf’s win, ABC shared an updated version of its “public comment guidelines” for employees, which was slammed by Maurice Blackburn’s principal lawyer, Josh Bornstein — who acted for Lattouf in her case — and Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s (MEAA) media director, Cassie Derrick.
Rangiah will decide on the penalty at a later date.
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