On Wednesday, the ABC called chief people officer Deena Amorelli to give evidence in relation to the penalty issue.
Antoinette Lattouf and one of her barristers, Philip Boncardo, arrive at the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday.Credit: Sam Mooy
She was asked by Lattouf’s barrister, Oshie Fagir, about a statement issued by the ABC after her court win and whether any personal apology had been made to her.
The statement did not apologise to Lattouf for sacking her, but said the ABC regretted “how the decision to remove Ms Lattouf from air was handled and the distress occasioned her”. The ABC extended its “sincere apologies” to her.
“To the best of your knowledge, the managing director [Hugh Marks] who made the statement has never made any attempt to contact Ms Lattouf directly?” Fagir said.
“Not to my knowledge,” Amorelli said.
She replied “not to my knowledge” when asked if anyone else purporting to act on behalf of the ABC had done so. But Amorelli said Rangiah’s decision had “reverberated throughout the organisation”.
Barrister Philip Boncardo, also acting for Lattouf, said in submissions to the court that “the decision by the ABC that Ms Lattouf should lose her employment because of her political opinion is conduct antithetical to a liberal democracy such as Australia”.
“Your Honour would sanction it accordingly,” Boncardo said. He said that “significant penalties are appropriate”.
The “systematic campaign” by pro-Israel lobbyists produced the “highly unusual circumstance” that senior ABC executives were involved in the decision to sack Lattouf, Boncardo said.
The ABC agreed in 2020 to make a $600,000 “contrition payment”, similar to a penalty, into the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund after it paid almost $12 million to more than 1900 current and former casual staff, reflecting unpaid penalty rates and overtime.
Lattouf was removed as a fill-in host of ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program in December 2023 after sharing a post critical of Israel from non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch on social media and adding the caption: “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war.”
Rangiah said the post was “bound to be controversial” and triggered a “state of panic” within the ranks of the ABC’s senior management.
Lattouf’s actions were “ill-advised and inconsiderate of her employer”, the judge said, but she had not been directed to refrain from posting about the war on social media while employed by the ABC.
Rangiah found Lattouf was “merely provided with advice that it would be best not to post anything controversial about the war”.
The broadcaster had already received complaints about Lattouf’s appointment because of her views about the war, which were not expressed on radio.
“The complaints asserted she had expressed antisemitic views, lacked impartiality and was unsuitable to present any program for the ABC,” Rangiah said.
“It became clear that the complaints were an orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have Ms Lattouf taken off air.”
Lattouf was sacked about 48 hours after the complaints started, three days into a planned five-day hosting stint.
with Calum Jaspan
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