Karen Attiah must be reinstated by The Washington Post and receive back pay after an arbitrator ruled the newspaper lacked sufficient cause to fire the opinion columnist over her social media posts following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa found the Post “did not have good and sufficient cause” to terminate Attiah and failed to establish that she engaged in “gross misconduct,” according to a decision obtained by The New York Times. Attiah was fired by the Post in September after posting about Kirk’s killing on Bluesky.
“This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion writer, and this was wrongful termination,” Attiah said in a statement, adding that she was “relieved to finally have that record set straight.”
Attiah told the Times that she was “willing to go back” to the Post, which she called “one of the world’s most storied newspapers.” A Washington Post spokeswoman told the Times that the company respects the arbitration process and declined to comment further.
Attiah was fired after posting on Bluesky about the reaction to Kirk’s assassination. 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 said in Attiah’s termination letter that her posts had harmed “the integrity” of the organization and violated standards requiring employees to use social media with civility and respect.
Attiah said at the time that the newspaper had accused her posts of being “unacceptable” and “gross misconduct,” allegations she rejected. The Washington Post Guild also condemned her firing and said it would defend her.
The dispute ultimately went to arbitration under the Post’s labor agreement. Lawyers for the newspaper and Attiah presented their cases during a June hearing that included testimony from Attiah, then-opinion editor Adam O’Neal and chief human resources officer Wayne Connell, according to the Times.
Attiah argued that her social media commentary was part of her work as an opinion journalist and focused on the broader discourse surrounding political violence. Espinosa ultimately sided with Attiah, finding the Post had not met the standard required to fire her.
Attiah spent 11 years at the Post, where she served as founding editor of Global Opinions and later as an opinion columnist. She also previously edited Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018.
Her firing came amid a broader overhaul of the Post’s opinion section. Owner Jeff Bezos announced in February 2025 that the section would focus on “personal liberties and free markets,” a shift that prompted the departure of then-opinion editor David Shipley and backlash from some readers.
TheWrap has reached out to the Washington Post for further comment.
