Lattouf v ABC: What Employers Must Learn from This Landmark Unlawful Termination Case

Co-Authored by Tiffany Craig

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Antoinette Lattouf successfully brought an Unlawful Termination claim against the ABC for terminating her employment due to Ms Lattouf expressing her political opinion.
• The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) sets out extensive legislative requirements when terminating employees which must be complied with.
• Employers should always seek professional legal advice before terminating an employee to ensure compliance with the Fair Work Act.

On 25 June 2025, the Federal Court of Australia handed down its judgment in the high-profile unlawful termination case between Antoinette Lattouf and ABC (see Lattouf v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (No 2) [2025] FCA 669 for the full judgment). Of the issues in dispute, the main determination to be made by the Federal Court was whether the reasons provided by the ABC for the termination of Ms Lattouf contravened the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“Fair Work Act”).

BACKGROUND

In December 2023, the ABC employed Ms Lattouf to host their Sydney ‘Mornings’ radio show for 5 days. Prior to and during this appointment, Ms Lattouf had posted on her social media accounts regarding the Israel/Gaza war. Within three days of her appointment, ABC removed Ms Lattouf from the show following a Human Rights Watch post she had shared on her social media accounts. When removing Ms Lattouf, the ABC claimed she had breached their ‘policies’, but they did not identify which policies she had breached and was not given the opportunity to defend herself against the allegations.

WHAT IS UNLAWFUL TERMINATION?

Unlawful termination is when an employer terminates an employee for a reason which is prohibited under section 772 of the Fair Work Act. Notably, an unlawful termination application is only available to people who are not a ‘National Systems Employee’ and are ineligible to make a general protections claim with the Fair Work Commission.

Prohibited reasons for terminating employment under the Fair Work Act include:

• being temporarily away due to illness or injury,
• engaging in Trade Union activities,
• filing a complaint or engaging in proceedings against an employer,
• race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or care responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin,
• taking maternity or other parental leave, and
• engaging in voluntary emergency activity where absence is reasonable in all circumstances.

FEDERAL COURT JUDGMENT

Ms Lattouf took the ABC to the Federal Court claiming that they had breached the Fair Work Act and the ABC Enterprise Agreement 2022-2025 (“Enterprise Agreement”) when terminating her employment which had further caused psychological distress. Justice Rangiah found that the ABC had breached two sections of the Fair Work Act, being –

1. Section 772(1) that protects employees from being terminated on certain grounds, including political opinion; and
2. Section 50 that prohibits the contravention of an enterprise agreement.

In addition to this finding, the Court ordered that the ABC pay Ms Lattouf $70,000 compensation for non-economic loss, being the psychological distress suffered due to the termination, and set down the matter for hearing to determine whether the ABC should pay a pecuniary penalty for breach of the Fair Work Act.

NOTE TO EMPLOYERS

This judgment is a cautionary tale to all employers – no matter the size of your business or the policies in place, the legislation dictates that the termination of employees must comply with the Fair Work Act and be for valid reasons. Before taking the steps to terminate an employee, employers need to seek professional legal advice to ensure legislative compliance and to avoid going through costly litigation.

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU

At Coutts, we have an experienced Employment Law team that can assist both employers and employees alike to ensure you are aware of your obligations and rights. If you need a review of your workplace policies, assistance with termination or guidance through an unfair dismissal, contact our team today.

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