The ABC has paid $1.1 million to external lawyers in its court battle with journalist Antoinette Lattouf as its acting managing director said the broadcaster accepted it had lessons to learn from the case.
Lattouf has sued the ABC, claiming unlawful termination three days into a five-day contract as a fill-in presenter on ABC Radio Sydney in late 2023. Central to the case are social media posts she made before and during her time at the ABC on the Gaza conflict.
Acting managing director of the ABC Melanie Kleyn, second from right, at Tuesday’s parliamentary hearing.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Appearing before a parliamentary committee in Canberra on Tuesday, the acting managing director of the ABC, Melanie Kleyn, said the broadcaster had lessons to reflect on.
“Will we learn lessons? Will we reflect? We absolutely will reflect on this matter. We do reflect on this matter,” she said.
Kleyn said the ABC continued to defend its position that Lattouf was not sacked, confirming the broadcaster’s lawyers made several attempts to settle the case out of court without admitting fault. She also revealed the ABC had spent $1.1 million so far on legal costs, including solicitors Seyfarth Shaw.
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“We do understand this is an impost on public funds,” Kleyn said.
Asked during the hearing whether the broadcaster “regretted” not complying with Lattouf’s initial request for $85,000 in compensation, a public apology and reinstatement before launching legal action, Kleyn said the ABC would have preferred to settle the case out of court.
“If you’re asking me ‘would the ABC have preferred not to spend $1.1m [on the case]?’, the answer to that is yes,” Kleyn said.
