Washington Post Ordered to Rehire Karen Attiah in Shock Ruling After She Was Fired Over Charlie Kirk Posts

(Screengrab via YouTube)

An arbitrator ordered The Washington Post to rehire columnist Karen Attiah and award her back pay nearly a year after the newspaper fired her over social media posts following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

According to the decision document obtained by The New York Times, Sarah Miller Espinosa argued Thursday that The Post “did not have good and sufficient cause” to fire Attiah and “violated” its labor agreement, adding: “The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct.”

Attiah was fired in September 2025 after posting the reaction to Kirk’s killing on Bluesky. In its termination letter, The Post accused the longtime columnist of “gross misconduct” and that her posts both violated its social media policies and harmed “the integrity” of the newspaper.

Among the cited posts were comments including: “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” and “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.”

The only post by Attiah at that time that mentioned Kirk by name, but was not mentioned in the termination letter, misattributed a racist quote to the late activist. Attiah claimed that the quote was using Kirk’s “own words” but it was an internet-sourced misquote apparently adopted from his case against affirmative action naming specific individuals.

Attiah’s termination letter also pointedly referenced “documented performance concerns,” suggesting that longstanding internal issues compounded the fallout.

“Given these concerns, and in light of your recent unacceptable Bluesky posts, we cannot tolerate the risk your performance poses to The Post,” the letter read.

Attiah maintained that her commentary fell squarely within her role as an opinion writer and during her arbitration proceedings in June described the posts as part of her work “commenting on our discourse on political violence.”

“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 told The Times following the ruling, adding that she was “relieved to finally have that record set straight.”

She also took to social media to share The Times piece, with a comment: “The Washington Post fired me last year for speaking the truth after Charlie Kirk’s killing. I fought back. I’m happy to announce: I won my case against the Washington Post. They have been ordered to reinstate me immediately.”

The Post told The Times it respects the arbitration process and declined further comment.

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