Media Office
Media note: Lattouf v ABC proceedings – Giuseppe Carabetta
Sydney Times Category: OpEds,Letters to Editor
12 Febraury,2025
Associate Professor, Workplace & Business Law in the UTS Business School, Dr Giuseppe Carabetta, comments on the continuing Antoinette Lattouf v Australian Broadcasting Corporation hearing before the Federal Court, based on the following key points:
1. Lattouf v ABC is not an “unfair dismissal” claim.
2. Unfair dismissal is about the overall fairness of a dismissal or, in the words of the Fair Work Act, whether the dismissal “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”.
3. Ms Lattouf is instead claiming that she was unlawfully dismissed for reasons which included her political opinion, or her race and political opinion, in breach of section 772 of the Fair Work Act.
4. A reverse onus of proof applies to such claims. This means the ABC, as the employer, will be presumed to have terminated her employment on one of these grounds, unless it can demonstrate it had a legitimate reason for terminating her. This has been a key focus of the proceedings – and explains all the evidence being adduced about the ABC management’s actions in relation to the dismissal. In other words, a core issue is the motivation behind the dismissal.
5. The ABC is attempting to demonstrate that it took action against Ms Lattouf not on the basis of her political opinion or race but because she breached ABC policies and guidelines on impartiality, and that she failed to comply with a direction given to her in relation to her use of social media. Ms Lattouf denies any such breaches, while also pointing to examples of other ABC presenters making public comments on political issues. (See further, my January 2024 piece in the Sydney Morning Herald).
6. Ms Lattouf and her legal team are also claiming that that the ABC breached its staff enterprise agreement, first, by not following relevant procedural requirements in dealing with Ms Lattouf’s alleged misconduct; and second, by dismissing Ms Lattouf summarily when she was not guilty of serious misconduct.
Dr Giuseppe Carabetta
Associate Professor, Workplace & Business Law
Department of Management
UTS Business School
University of Technology Sydney
Issued by:
UTS Media Office
M: +61 419 293 261
E: newsroom@uts.edu.au
