SYDNEY: Australia’s public broadcaster ABC unlawfully dismissed a radio journalist over a social media post related to the Israel-Gaza conflict, a court found Wednesday.
ABC, seen by many Australians as a bastion of fair reporting, apologised after being ordered to pay Antoinette Lattouf Aus$70,000 (US$45,000) in compensation, with a further financial penalty yet to be decided.
The broadcaster broke employment law by terminating her “for reasons including that she held political opinions opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza”, Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah said in his ruling.
Lattouf took legal action after being dismissed in December 2023, three days into a five-day casual contract with the ABC.
She had re-posted to Instagram a Human Rights Watch video report on the Gaza conflict with the comment: “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war”.
ABC senior management’s consternation over the post turned into a “state of panic”, the judge said, and a decision was made to take her off the air “within the hour”.
“We regret how the decision to remove Ms Lattouf from air was handled and the distress occasioned her,“ ABC managing director Hugh Marks said.
“It’s clear the matter was not handled in line with our values and expectations,“ he said in a statement.
“We also let down our staff and audiences, and this failure has caused understandable concern among the public and inside the organisation.”
