ABC ordered to pay Antoinette Lattouf $150k in penalties for unlawful sacking
Antoinette Lattouf (from her Instagram account)
The ABC has been ordered to pay journalist and former staff member Antoinette Lattouf $150,000 in pecuniary penalties for unlawfully sacking her.
Lattouf’s legal team had argued the ABC should pay “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for its “various contraventions of the law”, while the ABC was seeking a lower amount, between $37,000 and $56,000.
Lattouf had previously been awarded $70,000 in compensation for the distress the unlawful sacking caused her. These additional pecuniary penalties are meant to act as a deterrent, to discourage companies from contravening workplace laws in the future.
The ABC has already been widely criticised for the $1 million-plus it spent defending the case.
Unfortunately this behaviour just makes organisations less likely to consider a candidate like her in the future, which is a shame.
This is the greatest con job, and the ABC fell for it – a national disgrace.
I hope the ABC appeals this decision, this is taxpayers money – how many people would be given $150,000 for being let go in a position they held for doing something they were told not to do?
The courts found the ABC wanting. The lobbying from the anti Palestinian lobby groups cannot pressure illegal behaviour. Others should heed this. Fair, just and legal should be the real guide to how workplaces behave.