Sacked ABC radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf has issued the broadcaster with a three-point ultimatum in exchange for it dropping legal proceedings.
His legal team, led by Josh Bornstein of the firm Maurice Blackburn, last week offered ABC a “modest” compromise deal after mediation talks failed in June.
Lattouf was sacked by the ABC in December over her posts about the Gaza war, just three days after beginning a week-long stint as a fill-in presenter on Radio Sydney’s morning show.
She took legal action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission, claiming the decision was political, based on her stance on Palestine and her Lebanese heritage.
Lattouf has revealed she is willing to avoid a costly Federal Court trial if ABC awards her $85,000, a public apology and reinstates her as a substitute radio host.
Mr. Bornstein’s letter to ABC argued that the settlement represented what Lattouf “could receive at trial if he is successful.” The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
He added that if rejected, the publicly funded national broadcaster would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills to fight his client.
“It is in the interest of both parties, and your client in particular, that a swift and pragmatic solution be reached to resolve the proceedings,” the letter reads.
Former ABC stand-in radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf (pictured) has sought $85,000 in damages, a public apology and reinstatement to her job to drop legal proceedings.
“A prolonged litigation is not in the interest of either ABC or Ms Lattouf.”
Lattouf said he supported a public broadcaster using taxpayer funds to inform and entertain the public rather than pay legal fees.
“I haven’t done anything wrong and yet I’m still being punished,” she said.
“It has been a harrowing seven months in which I have fought for journalism without fear or favour, for my career, my reputation and my mental health.”
“But it’s worth fighting for. I’m looking forward to moving forward.”
Lattouf says she was sacked by the ABC over her posts about the Gaza war, just three days into her week-long job as a stand-in presenter on Radio Sydney’s morning show.
She was fired just after going off air and hours after a member of a Jewish WhatsApp lobby group called for a day of action against her.
The ABC said the source of the complaints was irrelevant to its proceedings and maintained that Lattouf was not dismissed solely because of his posts.
“The ABC has a transparent complaints process and responds accordingly, regardless of the source of the complaint,” a spokesperson said at the time.
She took legal action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission, claiming the decision was political, based on her stance on Palestine and her Lebanese heritage.
Lattouf is suing the national broadcaster for allegedly sacking her in December over social media posts supporting Palestinians (pictured, ABC offices in Ultimo, Sydney)
The former host sparked a media storm last month after using a now-deleted slur to describe ABC viewers.
In an opinion piece for Nine newspaper, she referred to the broadcaster’s older audience as the “colostomy bag crowd”.
Journalist Lucie Morris-Marr denounced it as “one of the most horrendous, offensive and disgusting things I have ever heard as a young bowel cancer patient who had it for a year following emergency surgery.”
The words were later cut from the online version of the Sydney Morning Herald column, although it was too late for the print product.
