Lattouf took her case to the Fair Work Commission, which ruled she had been fired, and then to the Federal Court. The case provided entertainment aplenty, with senior ABC executives tripping over themselves. For example, the then ABC managing director David Anderson admitted a 鈥渟tep missing鈥 in the way the broadcaster handled her exit, and former ABC chair Ita Buttrose emailed senior managers asking 鈥渉as Antoinette been replaced? I鈥檓 over getting emails about her鈥 before plaintively asking 鈥渨hy can鈥檛 she come down with flu? Or COVID. Or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing.鈥
In his judgment, Justice Rangiah acknowledged concerns surrounding Lattouf鈥檚 impartiality, saying that, as an employee of the ABC, her private social media post was bound to be controversial. 鈥淚t was ill-advised and inconsiderate of her employer,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was one thing for the ABC to publish the report as a news story: it was quite another for Ms Lattouf, having already made social media posts complained of as reflecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views, to repost the story.鈥
But the case exposed the ABC鈥檚 highly stressed culture. Under sustained attack by governments and media rivals, the ABC has walked wounded for a decade, retreating from cultural and light entertainment only to make experienced staff redundant, and instituting a 鈥渟tar鈥 system that often encouraged personality over reportage. Meanwhile, executives with little public broadcasting experience were hired.
Most ABC executives involved in the Lattouf imbroglio have departed. Buttrose went in early 2024, Anderson and chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor left this year. Former ABC Radio Sydney station manager Steve Ahern, responsible for hiring Lattouf, resigned last year.