Washington Post must reinstate columnist fired over Charlie Kirk posts, arbitrator rules

The Washington Post must reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah and pay her back wages, a private arbitrator has ruled. Attiah was fired in September 2025 for social media posts made after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa found that the newspaper "did not have good and sufficient cause" to terminate Attiah and had "violated" its labor agreement. She wrote that "The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct."

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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.

Attiah stated that the 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." A spokesperson for The Washington Post said the newspaper respects the arbitration process but declined to comment further.

The dispute began after Attiah posted on social media platform Bluesky following Kirk's assassination. One post noted Kirk's past comments on black women. The Post had stated in its termination letter that Attiah's posts violated its social media policy, which requires employees' online activity to be respectful and not undermine the newspaper's journalism.

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The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct.