Antoinette Lattouf stepped into the casual role presenting the Mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney over five days in December 2023.
But she was dismissed after three days on air after sharing a Human Rights Watch post on Instagram saying Israel had used starvation as a "weapon of war" in Gaza.
"Dear Ita, we're absolutely in damage control:" David Anderson. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
As a Federal Court unfair dismissal hearing continued on Wednesday, ABC barrister Ian Neil SC said local radio management had been blamed for reputational damage caused by Lattouf's public criticisms of Israel.
"Dear Ita, we're absolutely in damage control," then-ABC managing director David Anderson wrote in an email to chair Ita Buttrose on December 20.
He pointed the finger at head of capital city networks Steve Ahern for putting the ABC in an "unacceptable position" by failing to assess Lattouf's social media and other history before hiring her.
"Mr Ahern made a negligent error of judgment by employing Ms Lattouf," he wrote.
While the organisation had received a campaign of complaints about Lattouf's prior comments about Israel and Gaza, Mr Neil denied they influenced the broadcaster's decision to ultimately let her go.
Mr Anderson forwarded some of these complaints onto chief content officer Christopher Oliver-Taylor and other senior ABC staff.
After an investigation, which found the freelance journalist had been selected under the ABC's diversity policies, Mr Oliver-Taylor told Mr Anderson she had not breached any guidelines and would remain on air until the end of her five-day shift.
He wrote that it would be unreasonable to expect that all Lattouf's previous posts adhered to ABC editorial guidelines since she was only working with the broadcaster on a temporary basis.
The freelance journalist has denied being given a direction not to post about Israel and Gaza. (Jane Dempster/AAP PHOTOS)
That evening, Mr Anderson personally inspected Lattouf's Instagram feed, digging up more posts before expressing further concerns to Mr Oliver-Taylor.
"I think we have an Antoinette issue," he texted.
"Her socials are full of anti-Semitic hatred."
He attached a screenshot of a post from the journalist, which under cross-examination on Monday she said had been written as a "cheeky" response to hate mail.
"Hell no, (Israel) should finish off the ethnic cleansing job they started, then move onto the West Bank. Kill and annexe. Then same with Lebanon and Jordan," Lattouf wrote.
Mr Oliver-Taylor agreed that the posts were "hugely problematic", saying it would be very hard for Lattouf to remain on air until the end of the week.
Mr Anderson framed the problem in text messages as a reputational issue.
"The perception of our people's impartiality is as important as their adherence to the policies," he wrote.
But a further investigation into those posts found the 41-year-old had still not breached social media guidelines and an agreement was made to keep her on air.
Acting editorial director Simon Melkman said it was "worth treading carefully" given Lattouf was outspoken and had strong views on the Gaza conflict.
"She would make it a very big and very public issue," he wrote in an email.
Despite having to deal with a "plainly agitated" Ms Buttrose, Mr Anderson still held the line and kept Lattouf on, Mr Neil said.
That is until it was discovered that she had shared the Human Rights Watch comment despite directions not to post about Israel and Gaza during her employment with the ABC, the court was told.
The freelance journalist has denied being given any such direction and claims she was only let go after the ABC caved to pressure from pro-Israeli lobbyists.
She is suing for damages and penalties.
The hearing continues.
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