Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose asked about emails saying Antoinette Lattouf should ‘come down’ with an illness

Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose has been asked about emails she sent following complaints about Antoinette Lattouf, in an unlawful termination case launched by the journalist.

Ms Lattouf was taken off air part way through a fill-in presenting stint on ABC Radio Sydney in December 2023.

She alleged the ABC told her she breached the organisation’s social media policy, after sharing a post from Human Rights Watch about the war in Gaza, with the caption “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war”.

The ABC has denied her employment was unlawfully terminated and the parties failed to resolve the matter at mediation in the Fair Work Commission last year.

Ms Lattouf’s lawyers argued that her political opinion and race played a role in the decision.

Ms Buttrose entered the witness box on Tuesday afternoon.

In emails tabled to the court last week, Ms Buttrose told ABC managing director David Anderson she was “over” receiving complaints about Ms Lattouf, prior to her removal.

“I have a whole clutch more complaints. Can’t she come down with flu or COVID or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing,” Ms Buttrose wrote.

Ms Lattouf’s lawyers argue senior executives were influenced by pro-Israel lobbyists in their decision to take her off air.

When asked about the emails, Ms Buttrose said that saying she had become ill “would give her an easy exit, that’s all it was, a suggestion”.

In response to questions about why she thought Ms Lattouf should not have been hired, Ms Buttrose said “she was a controversial broadcaster”.

“I think in relation to the Gaza-Israel conflict, she was an activist, that was quite apparent,” she said.

She was then asked if she came to this conclusion solely from the complaints received — which she agreed were inaccurate — and said that she formed the view as a “general observer of life”.

Ms Buttrose denied she was aware of a coordinated campaign to have Ms Lattouf taken off air, despite noting similar or identical wording in the complaints.

“I observed from reading the letters, the letter writers felt that we were not being impartial, and I was concerned about what that would do for the ABC’s reputation and 702,” Ms Buttrose said.

The court heard Ms Buttrose sent additional unprompted emails to complainants, directly informing them that Ms Lattouf was dismissed that day.

Ms Lattouf’s barrister then referred to an email sent by Ms Buttrose the afternoon of the dismissal, where she forwarded a message from a member of the public thanking her and the board.

“It’s nice to get congratulatory emails,” Ms Buttrose wrote to Mr Anderson.

“I didn’t wish her to be removed. I didn’t put pressure on anybody. It’s a fantasy of your own imagination. I have nothing to do with her dismissal,” Ms Buttrose told the court.

Ms Buttrose left the organisation last year after a five-year term as chair.

ABC withdraws race argument

The ABC previously argued Ms Lattouf’s claim of racial discrimination must fail because she had not proved that there was such a thing as “a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern race,” but has now proposed to file an amended opening submission.

Ms Lattouf’s barrister Oshie Fagir raised the argument by the ABC on the first day of proceedings last week.

“This is a model litigant, an organisation that publicly suggests that it is confronting and treating seriously the concerns of its diverse workforce, and it comes to this court and says that Ms Lattouf should fail because it has not been proven that there is such thing as a Lebanese race,” Mr Fagir said.

ABC’s lawyer apologises for unredacted complaints

The ABC’s lawyer also apologised after a number of unredacted complaints from pro-Israel individuals were uploaded in an affidavit published by the Federal Court website.

The complaints and their identities were subject to a suppression order last week.

The unredacted information published included personal details including names, emails, phone numbers and some addresses.

“I am deeply unhappy about the error made by the ABC’s legal representatives,” Justice Darryl Rangiah said.

Mr Neil apologised, telling the court it was filed in the “mistaken belief” that it was redacted and cited human error.

Complaints made about Lattouf ‘hyperbolic’

Former ABC Radio Sydney station manager Steve Ahern told the court that complaints made about Ms Lattouf’s article about a protest outside Sydney Opera House in 2023 were “hyperbolic” and “without any substance”.

Mr Ahern was responsible for hiring Ms Lattouf and was acting as the head of the ABC Capital City Network during her employment.

After investigating her social media, he said he did not consider Ms Lattouf to be biased in the context of the war in Gaza.

Court documents show that Mr Anderson alleged Mr Ahern failed to do proper checks on her social media before hiring her.

Mr Ahern also said he was “assured” by ABC Radio Sydney content director Elizabeth Green that she had discussed social media expectations with Ms Lattouf, after complaints had been received.

He then told the court he believed the instruction not to post at all was clear.

Mr Ahern also recalled a meeting with Ms Green and acting Radio Sydney manager Mark Spurway where he told them the decision to take Ms Lattouf off air was because Ms Lattouf had “posted something controversial about the Israel-Gaza war and had been asked not to do so”.

In response to questions by barrister Philip Boncardo, Mr Ahern said posting anything about the Israel-Gaza war would have meant her previous posts about the war would need to be taken into account.

“In that respect — to me — posting anything about the Israel-Gaza war would automatically have been controversial, because it would have been taken in a much wider context than just posting within that week,” Mr Ahern said.

Mr Ahern resigned from the ABC last year.