Former ABC radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf has lost a bid to force the broadcaster to hand over emails relating to her dismissal.
Ms Lattouf has lodged a case against the ABC in the Fair Work Commission, alleging she was unlawfully terminated from a casual presenting position in December following a social media post about the war in Gaza.
She had asked the commission to force the ABC to produce emails sent to its chair Ita Buttrose and managing director David Anderson calling for her dismissal.
But the Fair Work Commission rejected the application on Friday.
Ms Lattouf has said she will “fight as long as it takes” in her case against the ABC, which she alleges told her she breached the organisation’s social media policy for linking to a report from Human Rights Watch about the war in Gaza on her personal Instagram account.
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The Nine group of newspapers published a series of messages in January alleged to be from a WhatsApp group called Lawyers for Israel, which indicate the group wrote multiple letters of complaint about Ms Lattouf to the ABC board, Mr Anderson and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.
The published messages show one lawyer allegedly claimed “Ita Buttrose replied to 7 of our letters yesterday.”
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The publication of the messages sparked a public debate about the ABC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza, and prompted ABC members of the journalists’ union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), to pass a vote of no confidence in Mr Anderson.
The ABC board passed a unanimous vote of confidence in Mr Anderson in response, with Ms Buttrose defending his support for the ABC’s independence and its journalists.
In defending itself against Ms Lattouf’s Fair Work case, the ABC has argued she was not terminated, despite her on-air stint being cut short, because she was paid for her rostered shifts.
The broadcaster has also denied a claim by Ms Lattouf, who is of Lebanese heritage, that she was partly dismissed based on her race.
The matter will return to the commission next month.