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The ABC has again been chastised in court, with a judge imposing a $150,000 fine for the illegal sacking of a presenter over social media post about the war in Gaza.
The penalty was levied on Wednesday against the public broadcaster for breaching workplace law when it sacked journalist Antoinette Lattouf from her casual role on ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program in 2023.
The amount is less than half of the $350,000 figure Lattouf called for at a Federal Court hearing earlier in September.
The ABC has 28 days to pay the fine, which comes in addition to the $70,000 in damages she was previously awarded.
The broadcaster has spent more than $2 million in taxpayer funds defending the case.
A judge found Antoinette Lattouf was dismissed for reasons that included her political opinions. Source: AAP / Steven Markham
Lattouf was dismissed three days into a five-day hosting stint in December 2023 after sharing an Instagram post from Human Rights Watch saying Israel was using starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
Her barrister Oshie Fagir pushed for $350,000 penalty at the September hearing, saying the ABC’s expressions of regret were “performative”.
The ABC instead sought between $37,560 and $56,340, reasoning the sacking was borne of a “single inadvertent mistake”.
Justice Darryl Rangiah in June found the ABC breached employment law by dismissing the journalist for reasons that included her political opinions.
The ABC was under pressure from an orchestrated campaign of complaints against the then casual radio host, who was not given a chance to defend herself but was instead shown the door, he said.
“Whatever the penalty, for me this was never about money — it’s always been about accountability and the integrity of the information our public broadcaster gives us,” Lattouf said in a statement posted to X on Tuesday.
This is a developing story and this article will be updated.
