'Washington Post' ordered to reinstate columnist fired over Charlie Kirk posts

An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah, ruling the newspaper lacked sufficient cause to fire her over social media posts following the September 2025 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The decision mandates full back pay and lost benefits for Attiah, who was dismissed on September 11, 2025, one day after Kirk's death at Utah Valley University. The Post had cited Attiah's Bluesky posts, including one stating, "refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence" was not violence, claiming they violated social media policies and harmed the organization's integrity. However, the arbitrator found the posts, while "ill-timed," did not constitute "gross misconduct" or provide "good and sufficient cause" for termination. Attiah stated, "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."