Host 'relieved' of work, not fired after Gaza post: ABC

A pro-Palestine presenter taken off air after a barrage of complaints was not fired but instead "relieved of any obligation to perform any further work", ABC lawyers have argued in court.

Antoinette Lattouf was let go after three days of a week-long fill-in stint on ABC Radio Sydney's Mornings program when she shared a Human Rights Watch post that said Israel used starvation as a "weapon of war" in Gaza.

She went after the public broadcaster in the Fair Work Commission and escalated the case to the Federal Court, where she has sued for penalties and damages.

On Friday, ABC barrister Ian Neil SC denied Lattouf had been sacked.

He argued the organisation was contractually allowed to reduce the presenter's shifts because, as a casual employee, she had no express right to work.

"She was relieved of any obligation to perform any further work," he told Justice Darryl Rangiah.

The barrister reiterated the broadcaster's stance then-chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor decided to remove Lattouf from her final two shifts because she had breached a direction.

The fill-in host had purportedly been told not to post anything relating to the Israel-Gaza conflict on social media, although she denies that claim.

Mr Oliver-Taylor also thought the decision was warranted because the journalist had potentially breached the ABC's personal use of social media guidelines, the court heard.

But that position was questioned by Justice Rangiah.

"Does that sound like a rather flimsy reason to take the applicant off air, that she may have breached the ABC's policies or guidelines?" the judge asked.

"In context, no," Mr Neil said.

Mr Oliver-Taylor did not want to punish, sanction or discipline Lattouf by her early removal from the airwaves, he argued.

"Not one person ever on the evidence ever thought (being pulled off air) was a punishment," Mr Neil said.

"What about Ms Lattouf?" Justice Rangiah said.

Her direct supervisor Elizabeth Green previously told the court she never gave an order and merely advised Lattouf to lay low on social media.

"What does it matter whether somebody labels it a direction, a request, advice?" Mr Neil said.

"It was a clear communication - don't do this."

Lattouf said she negotiated with Ms Green to be able to post objective facts from reputable sources.

While the journalist might have felt disappointed at being asked not to work the final shifts, she would only be entitled to modest compensation if the court found that ABC unlawfully dismissed her, Mr Neil argued.

The broadcaster - which has spent more than $1.1 million defending the lawsuit - concedes her underlying psychological conditions may have been exacerbated by being told to leave.

But it says her advocacy on controversial issues such as Palestine, the sometimes hostile responses to that, and the burden she felt being a "poster girl" also affected her mental state.

Her barrister Philip Boncardo said she was entitled to greater compensation due to her hurt and distress, including because information about her dismissal had been leaked to The Australian the day she was taken off air.

Lattouf claims she was unlawfully dismissed because of her political opinion and race.

She says there was pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists who sent a slew of complaints to now-outgoing ABC managing director David Anderson and then-chair Ita Buttrose.

Mr Neil denied there was any antipathy towards the fill-in host, saying mitigation measures including the claimed direction to refrain from posting about Gaza were implemented to protect her.

The barrister also took aim at the way the case had been run, saying it was never about political opinion.

"On the applicant's case, the posting of the Human Rights Watch story could not have been an expression of opinion," Mr Neil said.

"On her case, the contents of that story were an incontrovertible fact, not an opinion at all."

Justice Rangiah has retired to consider his decision.