Arbitrator orders Washington Post to reinstate opinion writer fired over Kirk posts

An arbitrator ordered The Washington Post to reinstate opinion writer Karen Attiah, finding the newspaper lacked sufficient cause to fire her over social media posts about Charlie Kirk's death, per CBS News reporting.

Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa ruled on August 24 that The Washington Post violated its collective bargaining agreement with the newspaper's union when it terminated Attiah on September 11. The arbitration hearing was held on June 4. Espinosa ordered the Post to reinstate Attiah and provide full back pay and lost benefits.

Attiah was fired following social media posts about Kirk, who was shot and killed on September 10 during a public appearance at Utah Valley University; he was 31 years old. Tyler Robinson, age 23, is charged with crimes including aggravated murder in connection with Kirk's shooting and has not yet entered a plea.

The Post's termination letter accused Attiah of gross misconduct, stating her Bluesky posts violated the organization's social media policies, harmed its integrity, and potentially endangered staff safety. One of Attiah's posts read, "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." Another stated, "If anything, the rush to coddle violent white men is self-protective, that we know they are not used to feeling vulnerable and mortal, and will react violently out of fear. And we will all suffer."

Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA in 2012, made provocative statements about race, gender and politics; he was critical of the Black Lives Matter movement and called George Floyd a "scumbag," per CBS News reporting. At the time of her firing, Attiah was the last Black full-time member of The Washington Post's opinion desk and the founding global opinion editor for the Post.

The ruling occurred amid a broader pattern of employment actions following Kirk's death. PHNX Sports fired reporter Gerald Bourguet after he posted similar commentary; MSNBC ended its relationship with analyst Matthew Dowd after he said on air that hateful speech leads to hateful actions; Middle Tennessee State University fired an employee; Nasdaq dismissed an employee; and the U.S. Secret Service placed an agent on administrative leave, per CBS News reporting. Comcast, MSNBC's parent company, issued a statement accusing Dowd of making "an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event."

The Democracy Defenders Fund and Washington-Baltimore News Guild represented Attiah in arbitration. The Democracy Defenders Fund said in a statement that the ruling marks a landmark moment for press freedom, "confirming that corporate media institutions cannot use retaliatory discipline to silence journalists who address uncomfortable truths." The National Association of Black Journalists stated that Attiah's firing had "raised an alarm about the erosion of Black voices across the media."

The Washington Post said in a statement that it respects the arbitration process but declined further comment.