Australia's Fair Work Commission backs journalist fired over Gaza post

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Australia’s Fair Work Commission on Monday found Antoinette Lattouf was sacked from a presenting role at public broadcaster ABC, paving the way for the journalist to pursue an unlawful termination case.

Lattouf, a Lebanese-Australian journalist, was employed by the ABC for a five-day engagement in December 2023, but was sacked just three days into her job after a social media post on Israel's war on Gaza.

Lattouf had reposted a Human Rights Watch (HRW) article about the besieged Palestinian enclave on Instagram, which ABC said was a breach of its editorial policy. The international human rights organization had published a study detailing how Israeli authorities in Gaza employed starvation as a weapon of war.

The journalist then approached the ​​​​​​Fair Work Commission, an industrial relations tribunal, which has rejected claims by the ABC that “it did not sack Lattouf because it paid her for all five shifts."

"In this case, I find that the employment relationship between the Applicant and the ABC, was terminated at the ABC’s initiative," Gerard Boyce, deputy president of the commission, said in his judgement.

"The ABC did not reply to the Applicant’s Clarification Email at all, let alone confirm or deny that the Applicant remained employed by the ABC," he said.

The case is now set to proceed to the Federal Court, as Lattouf argues her dismissal was "unfair" and without due process. She is crowdfunding to pay for her legal expenses.

- 'Pleased' over dismissal of claim by ABC

Lattouf in a statement shared on X said she was "pleased" by the commission's dismissal of ABC's claim that "I wasn't sacked."

"I remain bitterly disappointed that I was fired for posting a fact the ABC was itself reporting, namely a report of Human Rights Watch about starvation used as a tool of war," she said. "I remain committed to achieving a just outcome to this matter, for me, and a free and fair process. ... The truth isn't always convenient or comfortable, but it doesn't stop being factual."

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack that claimed 1,200 lives. Israeli actions have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing trial over alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.