Antoinette Lattouf’s three major demands for the ABC – as she sues the national broadcaster over her sacking

By Freddy Pawle For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:05 BST, 15 July 2024 | Updated: 01:11 BST, 15 July 2024

Sacked ABC radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf has issued the broadcaster a three-pronged ultimatum in return for her dropping legal proceedings.

Her legal team, led by Josh Bornstein of firm Maurice Blackburn, last week offered the ABC a ‘modest’ compromise settlement after mediation talks failed in June.

Lattouf was dumped by the ABC in December over her posts on the war in Gaza, just three days into a week-long stint as fill-in host on Radio Sydney’s morning show.

She launched legal action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission claiming the decision was political, based on her stance on Palestine and her Lebanese heritage.

Lattouf has revealed she is willing to avoid a costly Federal Court trial if the ABC awards her $85,000, a public apology and reinstates her as a fill-in radio presenter. 

Mr Bornstein’s letter to the ABC argued the settlement represented what Lattouf ‘could be awarded at trial if she is successful’, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He added that if rejected, the publicly-funded national broadcaster would have to spend hundreds of thousands in legal bills fighting his client.

‘It is in the interests of both parties, and your client in particular, that a swift and pragmatic solution be reached to resolve the proceedings,’ the letter reads.

Former ABC fill-in radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf (pictured) has requested compensation of $85,000, a public apology and reinstatement in her role to drop legal proceedings

‘A protracted legal dispute is not in the interests of either the ABC or Ms Lattouf.’

Lattouf said she supported a public broadcaster using taxpayer funds to inform and entertain the public instead of paying for legal fees.

‘I have done nothing wrong, yet I am still being punished,’ she said.

‘It’s been a distressing seven months as I’ve fought for journalism without fear or favour, my career, reputation and mental health.’

‘But it’s all worth fighting for. I look forward to moving on.’

Lattouf maintains she was dumped by the ABC because of posts on the war in Gaza, just three days into a week-long stint as fill-in host on Radio Sydney’s morning show.

She was fired just after getting off the air and hours after a member of a WhatsApp Jewish pressure group called for a day of action against her.

The ABC said the source of the complaints was irrelevant to its procedures and maintained Lattouf was not removed solely because of the posts.

‘The ABC has a transparent complaints process and responds accordingly, regardless of the source of the complaint,’ a spokesman said at the time.

She launched legal action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission claiming the decision was political, based on her stance on Palestine and her Lebanese heritage.

Lattouf is suing the national broadcaster for allegedly being sacked in December over social media posts in support of Palestinians (pictured, ABC offices in Ultimo, Sydney)

The former presenter sparked a media storm last month after using a now-deleted slur to describe ABC viewers. 

She referenced the broadcaster’s older audience as the ‘colostomy-bag crowd’ in an opinion piece for Nine newspapers.

Journalist Lucie Morris-Marr denounced it as ‘one of the most hideous, offensive and nasty phrases I’ve ever heard as a young bowel cancer patient who had one for a year due to emergency surgery’.

The words were later cut from the online version of the Sydney Morning Herald column – although it was too late for the printed product.

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Antoinette Lattouf’s three major demands for the ABC – as she sues the national broadcaster over her sacking

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