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See the full story · 7 sourcesKaren Attiah was fired after posting about ‘white men who espouse hatred and violence’ on the day Charlie Kirk was killed
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The Washington Post has been ordered to rehire its longtime opinion columnist Karen Attiah , who was fired over social media posts she made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Attiah, who had been at The Post since 2014, was fired after posting on Bluesky about “white men who espouse hatred and violence” on September 10, the day Kirk was shot dead during an event at Utah Valley University.
However, the newspaper “did not have good and sufficient cause” to fire the columnist and had “violated” its labor agreement when dismissing her, Sarah Miller Espinosa, a private arbitrator, wrote in a decision Thursday.
“The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,” Espinosa wrote. “As such, The Washington Post did not have good and sufficient cause to terminate the employment of the Grievant, Karen Attiah.”
In a statement sent out by her lawyers, Attiah noted, “This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion journalist, and doing that job is not misconduct.”
“After spending over a decade of my career at the Post as an editor and an opinion columnist focusing on race, gender and global human rights, I’m relieved to finally have that record set straight.”
Attiah, who was the founding Global Opinions editor, told The New York Times she was willing to return to her role, calling The Post “one of the world’s most storied newspapers.”
She said she hopes the decision “sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.”
A spokesperson for The Post told the outlet that the company respects the arbitration process but declined to comment further.
The decision came after Attiah accused the newspaper last year of violating its labor agreement and social media policy by firing her, claiming that her social media posts were within her rights as an opinion writer.
The labor agreement states that employees can submit disputes for arbitration, which the newspaper says is binding.
At the time of her firing, The Washington Post said Attiah’s comments hurt “the integrity” of the company and violated social media standards for employees.
During her time at the newspaper, Attiah won the 2019 George Polk Award and was the 2019 Journalist of the Year from the National Association of Black Journalists.
In the days after she was fired, Attiah took to Substack to share her side of the ordeal, writing, “As a columnist, I used my voice to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction.”
“Now, I am the one being silenced – for doing my job,” she wrote.
In June, lawyers for the newspaper and Attiah made their cases before Espinosa, the arbitrator. During her testimony, Attiah defended her social media posts, stating that part of her work as an opinion writer is “commenting on our discourse on political violence.”
"This decision is a thunderous victory for Karen Attiah, an award-winning journalist fired for doing her job, over Bezos’ Washington Post ," said Norm Eisen, co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, which represented Attiah.
"The Post tried to pass off retaliation as discipline, but the rule of law has exposed it for what it truly is: wrongful termination. This is a landmark win for every journalist who refuses to be silenced."
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