WASHINGTON POST ORDERED TO REHIRE COLUMNIST KAREN ATTIAH

The Washington Post has been ordered to rehire opinion columnist Karen Attiah, whom the newspaper fired in September following social media posts she made after Charlie Kirk's assassination. Attiah, employed by the Post since 2014, posted on Bluesky on 10 September — the day Kirk was shot dead during an event at Utah Valley University — commenting on "white men who espouse hatred and violence". A private arbitrator, Sarah Miller Espinosa, ruled on Thursday that the newspaper "did not have good and sufficient cause" to terminate her employment and had violated its labour agreement in doing so.

The Post had justified Attiah's dismissal by stating that her comments damaged the newspaper's "integrity" and breached social media standards for employees. Espinosa concluded in her decision that the Post "failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct". Attiah, who served as the founding Global Opinions editor, had accused the newspaper of violating its labour agreement and social media policy when it dismissed her. She maintained that her posts fell within her rights as an opinion journalist covering race, gender and global human rights.

In a statement through her lawyers, Attiah said the ruling confirmed she was performing her job as an opinion writer and that her conduct did not constitute misconduct. She stated she is willing to return to her role at the Post and expressed hope that the decision "sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for". The Post said it respects the arbitration process, which it described as binding, but declined to comment further on the ruling.