Journalist Antoinette Lattouf’s wrongful dismissal lawsuit against ABC will go to trial after mediation talks failed following her dismissal for an anti-Israel post.
Lattouf called Tuesday’s failed mediation efforts with the public broadcast “incredibly disheartening” but said he would not stop his campaign.
“As hard as this has been for me and as unfair as it is, let me be clear: I WILL NOT STOP,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
‘I will not stop fighting for freedom of the press. I will not stop fighting for human rights.
“I will not stop fighting for a brave and independent ABC, a public broadcaster that does not bow to pressure groups.”
Presenter Antoinette Lattouf sues ABC for unfair dismissal (pictured, arriving at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney)
Lattouf claims she was illegally fired from her position at ABC after sharing a social media post from Human Rights Watch that said: “HRW reports that hunger is a tool of war.”
Lattouf was hired by the ABC for a fill-in position on the Sydney morning radio show between December 18 and 22.
But she was fired three days into the contract after sharing a Human Rights Watch post on her Instagram page alleging that the Israeli government used starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
He subsequently brought unfair dismissal claims against the station in the Federal Court and the Fair Work Commission.
In a statement of claim filed with the court, Lattouf alleged that ABC breached its own enterprise agreement and fair work laws by terminating her contract when she had not engaged in misconduct.
He claimed that an ABC manager told him that the station had received “a large number of complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists” about his on-air presence before his dismissal.
The journalist said that at the meeting she was advised that she should “keep a low profile on Twitter” but that she could publish information from reputable sources such as Amnesty International.
Previous attempts by the ABC to argue that Lattouf was not “dismissed” within the meaning of the relevant law because she was on a casual contract were dismissed by the Fair Work Commission.
The ABC declined to comment on the case.