‘We Cannot Allow You to Continue’: Here’s the Brutal Termination Email the Washington Post Sent to Felicia Sonmez
After seven days of Twitter drama, the Washington Post fired reporter Felicia Sonmez on Thursday.
Last Friday, Sonmez publicly put colleague Dave Weigel on blast for having retweeted a distasteful joke that said, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
Sonmez flagged the retweet in a tweet of her own that read, “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!”
Weigel un-shared the tweet and apologized within 90 minutes. On Monday, the publication suspended him for a month without pay. Even after the apology and suspension, Sonmez kept tweeting negatively about the Post and colleagues of hers who questioned her approach of publicly airing her grievances.
On Thursday, the company fired Sonmez via email. In the email, obtained by the New York Times, Post Human Resources Officer Wayne Connell explained that Sonmez was being terminated “for misconduct that includes insubordination, maligning your co-workers online and violating The Post’s standards on workplace collegiality and inclusivity.”
Here’s the full email.
This is to inform you that The Post is terminating your employment, effective immediately, for misconduct that includes insubordination, maligning your coworkers online and violating The Post’s standards on workplace collegiality and inclusivity. As Sally’s Tuesday message reminded everyone, The Post expects all employees to adhere to its standards requiring employees to treat each other respectfully, inclusively, and professionally. Your continued conduct in disparaging your colleagues online disregarded the direction of newsroom leadership and violated The Post’s standards. Your public attempts to question the motives of your co-journalists, based on their expression of views different from yours, also undermines The Post’s reputation for journalistic integrity and fairness. The same is true of your baseless derision directed to our policies and practices, and our commitment to a safe and supportive work environment. We cannot allow you to continue to work as a journalist representing The Washington Post.
You will receive a separate letter from The Post’s Benefits Department concerning your eligibility for any other Post benefits upon termination.
In the event that you have left any personal items on the premises, we will make arrangements to return them and for you to return any other Post equipment you have in your possession.
Sonmez has not tweeted since her termination.
