Karen Attiah was fired for posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination that the Put up stated violated its social media coverage.
Revealed On 24 Aug 2026
An unbiased arbitrator has ordered the Washington Put up to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah and award her again pay after discovering the newspaper lacked enough grounds to fireside her.
Attiah was dismissed in September 2025 following social media posts concerning the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Attiah’s firing got here amid a broader conservative marketing campaign searching for skilled penalties for folks whose feedback about Kirk’s assassination had been deemed offensive.
“This choice confirms what we’ve stated from the beginning: I used to be doing my job as an opinion author, and this was wrongful termination,” Attiah stated in an announcement. “After spending over a decade of my profession on the Put up as an editor and an opinion columnist specializing in race, gender and world human rights, I’m relieved to lastly have that report set straight.”
The choice was issued by personal arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa, in response to a replica obtained by Attiah’s attorneys and cited by US media. Espinosa decided that the Put up had violated its labor settlement and didn’t have sufficient trigger to terminate Attiah.
“The Washington Put up failed to determine the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,” Espinosa wrote.
The dispute stemmed from posts Attiah made on Bluesky after Kirk was killed in September 2025. In a single publish, she referenced previous feedback Kirk had made about Black girls.
The Put up subsequently stated in Attiah’s termination letter that her posts breached its social media coverage. The coverage requires workers to make sure their on-line conduct stays respectful and doesn’t harm the integrity of the newspaper’s journalism.
The ruling comes amid wider questions concerning the course of the Put up below Bezos, who in February 2025 introduced the opinion part would reshape its editorial focus round themes of private liberties and free markets.
The Put up has additionally confronted monetary pressures. In February, the newspaper introduced layoffs affecting a few third of its workforce, with cuts reaching its worldwide, enhancing, metro and sports activities desks as the corporate handled mounting monetary losses.
