Antoinette Lattouf has attacked the ABC after the broadcaster asked Australians to come forward if their boss had controlled their political expression.
The national broadcaster shared a message on its Instagram Story on Saturday asking Australians to tell their experiences confidentially.
“Has your boss tried to control your political expression, whether at work or after hours?” ABC wrote.
“We’d love to hear (confidentially) from you about a story we’re working on.”
Lattouf shared a screenshot of the story with the caption: ‘Ummm… **coughs nervously**’.
It comes after Lattouf was fired by the broadcaster for her posts about the war in Gaza just three days into her week-long stint as a substitute presenter on Radio Sydney’s morning show.
The 40-year-old was fired Dec. 20 within minutes of finishing her Wednesday show after she reposted a Human Rights Watch video about the use of hunger as a tool of war in Gaza.
The former stand-in radio presenter launched legal action against ABC at the Fair Work Commission claiming the decision was political, based on her stance on Palestine and her Lebanese heritage.
Antoinette Lattouf has attacked the ABC after the broadcaster asked Australians to come forward if their boss had controlled their political expression.
The national broadcaster shared a message on its Instagram Story on Saturday asking Australians to tell their experiences confidentially.
Lattouf’s legal team has argued that ABC violated its disciplinary policies in its enterprise agreement by firing the journalist.
The ABC claimed she violated the organization’s impartiality policy on social media and was not actually fired because she was paid for the full week.
The Fair Work Commission ruled in June that Lattouf was effectively sacked by the national broadcaster and that the matter will be brought before a federal court next year.
ABC has since rejected Lattouf’s settlement request, which includes a public apology, his reinstatement as a fill-in radio host and $85,000.
The national broadcaster defended itself against the unfair dismissal claim and is believed to have submitted an undisclosed counter-offer.
In August, ABC’s national union committee said the broadcaster’s staff were disappointed that management had rejected Lattouf’s settlement offer.
Union members said the offer was “modest” and called on president Kim Williams and the board of directors to intervene if ABC management pursues the case.
“Arguing that Ms Lattouf was not fired and then rejecting a modest early settlement offer does not strike us as model litigation behaviour,” the House committee told The Age.
The Fair Work Commission ruled in June that Lattouf was effectively sacked by the national broadcaster and that the matter will be taken to federal court next year (pictured, Lattouf with his lawyers in January).
The committee argued that continuing the defense would run the “risk of increasing costs, which would reduce operating and personnel budgets.”
Members urged the ABC to reach a settlement with the former radio surrogate “rather than continuing to rack up these costs and fight a staff member who did nothing wrong,” ahead of a February 27 hearing at the Federal Court.
The ABC House committee also heavily criticized management for not disclosing its legal fees and for hiring top US law firm Seyfarth Shaw to handle the dispute.
ABC’s total legal expenses in the case against Lattouf are still unknown, despite CEO David Anderson receiving questions on notice in May during Senate estimates.
It is understood the government is processing the notice question in relation to ABC’s legal expenses to date and will provide a response when available.
