Key occasions
Day eight begins
And we’re off! Courtroom has simply began.
Amanda Meade
The occasions that introduced Lattouf and ABC so far
Antoinette Lattouf, a 41-year-old freelance journalist, misplaced her job in December 2023 after she shared a Human Rights Watch publish concerning the Israel-Gaza conflict whereas employed in an off-the-cuff position for ABC Radio.
After she was dismissed, three days right into a five-day informal contract internet hosting ABC’s Sydney Mornings, she took her case to the Honest Work Fee.
The ABC argued on the fee that Lattouf was not sacked as a result of she was paid for the complete 5 days of her contract, however the fee discovered she was sacked, paving the way in which for her to pursue an illegal termination case within the federal court docket.
The proof in chief was heard over seven days earlier within the month, and after a brief break the events return at this time to current their closing submissions.
On Monday 18 December Lattouf offered her first present on Mornings from 8.30am to 11am. After lunch, the ABC managing director, David Anderson, despatched a variety of emails to executives asking them to research the a number of complaints he was getting about Lattouf’s employment and to supply recommendation.
The complaints weren’t concerning the broadcast however concerning the ABC hiring somebody who was vital of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
The court docket was advised Anderson wrote in an electronic mail: “Can we ensure that Antoinette is not and has not been posting anything that would suggest she is not impartial”, setting off a series of occasions resulting in this high-profile trial.
Based on Lattouf’s assertion of declare, the complaints had been “sent by members of Lawyers for Israel and Jewish Creatives and Academics” and “sought to pressure the ABC to … terminate the employment of the applicant”.
The previous ABC chair Ita Buttrose mentioned in her affidavit she “did not recognise or know of any of the names of the persons from whom I received complaint emails, although, from their names, I assumed that many of them were of a Jewish background”.
The problem for me was not whether or not Ms Lattouf was pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. Somewhat, the difficulty was that Ms Lattouf gave the impression to be an activist in relation to the Israel-Gaza battle, which was a severe and contentious matter of concern in the neighborhood, no matter which facet of that battle she was an activist for. I don’t help the hiring of activists of any trigger to the ABC.
At first of the trial Justice Darryl Rangiah granted a suppression order on the names of the people in these teams.
The listening to kicks off with the applicant’s closing submissions listed for 2 hours, adopted by the respondent’s closing earlier than and after the lunch break.
If the events don’t get by their submissions at this time the court docket will sit once more on Friday.
Welcome
Hello, I’m Nino Bucci, and I’ll be watching day eight of the Antoinette Lattouf v ABC illegal termination declare.
Over at this time and presumably Friday we’ll hear the closing arguments from each side.
The listening to is scheduled to start at 10.15am and is reside streamed on the federal court docket’s YouTube channel.
When closing submissions have been made Justice Darryl Rangiah will retire to contemplate his verdict.
