Antoinette Lattouf’s Unlawful Termination case against the Australian Broadcasting Network (ABC) is an exemplary reminder of how the Fair Work Act operates to protect employees in practice, including short-term casual employees from being unlawfully terminated.

What happened?

Ms Lattouf was a casual employee engaged with the ABC to present Mornings on ABC Radio Sydney from the 18th of December 2023 to the 23rd of December 2023.

While employed with the ABC, Ms Lattouf reshared a Human Rights Watch post to her personal social media profile regarding the Israeli/Gaza conflict. Within an hour of resharing the social media post, ABC made the decision to terminate Ms Lattouf’s employment, and a few hours later, Ms Lattouf was terminated.

What were the legal issues with the termination?

1. Ms Lattouf had been given no direction from ABC about resharing posts expressing her personal views on her own social media profile.
2. Ms Lattouf was given no opportunity to respond to misconduct allegations.
3. Ms Lattouf dismissed for expressing her political opinion on her personal social media.

The Decision

The Federal Court held that the ABC had unlawfully terminated in breach of their Enterprise Agreement and the Fair Work Act. Specifically, the Court held that the ABC had contravened s 772(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 by terminating Ms Lattouf for reasons including that she held a political opinion.

Ms Lattouf was awarded $70,000.00.

What is an Unlawful Termination

An Unlawful Termination is when a person is dismissed for reasons including being dismissed for a person’s race or political opinion, colour, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, national extraction or social origin.

Why is this case important

Firstly, it highlights the importance of alternative dispute resolution and making the most of pre-hearing conferences.  There are claims that ABC has rejected an $85,000.00 settlement offer last year. While Ms Lattouf was awarded an amount less than had previously offered to settle for, both Ms Lattouf and the ABC would have incurred significant legal fees and are now faced with the opinion and scrutiny which comes with a public judgement. Pre-litigation conferences and negotiations are an important tool in the legal process, and when utilised properly are effective in saving the time, money and exposure connected with litigation.

Secondly, the ABC’s decision to dismiss Ms Lattouff was unlawful and highlights the importance of providing employees with the opportunity to respond to any allegations during the termination process, and that to dismiss someone for their political opinions or other personal attributes is not a valid reason for dismissal.

Want to know more about this type of claim or similar employment law claims?

We can help you with:

1. Unfair Dismissal claims
2. Unlawful Termination claims
3. General Protection claims
4. Bullying claims

If you need assistance with any of these claims, or other employment related matters including please contact Grazia Legal.