An arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire Karen Attiah, the opinion columnist fired in September 2025 after posting about conservative activist Charlie Kirk on social media, ruling that the newspaper lacked sufficient cause to terminate her employment.
Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa determined Thursday that the Post violated its labor agreement with Attiah and failed to establish that she had engaged in gross misconduct. “The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,” Espinosa wrote in her decision, which was obtained by The New York Times.
Attiah, who spent 11 years at the Post and was the paper’s last full-time Black opinion columnist, was terminated after she posted on Bluesky on September 10, 2025—the day Charlie Kirk was assassinated. In one post, she wrote: “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is … not the same as violence.” The Post’s termination letter said her posts harmed the newspaper’s “integrity” and violated standards requiring civility and respect on social media.
During the June arbitration hearing, then-Post opinion editor Adam O’Neal testified that he alerted the company’s chief human resources officer, Wayne Connell, after seeing Attiah’s posts. “Karen’s social media feed yesterday and today is beyond the pale, completely unacceptable for someone associated with Opinions,” O’Neal wrote, according to a hearing transcript. O’Neal and Connell subsequently met with then-Post CEO Will Lewis to discuss the posts before the decision to fire Attiah was made.
Attiah challenged her firing under the Post’s labor agreement, arguing that her comments fell within the scope of her role as an opinion columnist and that the newspaper had violated its own social media policy. She was represented by Democracy Defenders Action, a progressive nonprofit co-founded by attorney Norman Eisen. The Post’s labor agreement provides for binding arbitration in employee disputes, and the arbitrator’s decision is enforceable.
In a statement Thursday, Attiah said the ruling confirmed her position. “This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion writer, and this was wrongful termination,” she said. She added that she was “willing to go back” to the Post and hoped the decision would send a message that “freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.”
The decision comes amid broader scrutiny of media organizations’ handling of employee speech. Earlier this month, The New York Times lost a $9.25 million defamation verdict in Alabama, and an appeals court overturned a $130,000 judgment against James O’Keefe, reflecting ongoing tensions between institutional editorial control and individual expression rights.
A Post spokeswoman said the newspaper respects the arbitration process and declined to comment further on the decision or whether Attiah will be reinstated.
Sources
- The New York Times — arbitrator’s decision, Attiah’s statements, and testimony from arbitration hearing
- Newsmax — arbitrator’s ruling, back pay award, and Post’s response
- The Guardian — Attiah’s firing and 11-year tenure at the Post
- WTOP — arbitration hearing details and timeline
- TheGrio — background on the social media posts and arbitration process
