Washington Post Ordered to Reinstate Columnist Karen Attiah

The Washington Post has been ordered to reinstate former columnist Karen Attiah following her dismissal over social media posts related to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Attiah’s termination occurred last year after she commented on the event. An arbitrator, Sarah Miller Espinosa, oversaw Attiah’s legal battle, stating the paper lacked ‘good and sufficient cause’ and violated her labor agreement, as reported by The New York Times.

Espinosa concluded that The Washington Post failed to prove Attiah engaged in gross misconduct. Attiah expressed relief at having her record cleared, asserting she was fulfilling her role as an opinion writer and that her termination was unjust.

On social media platform X, Attiah announced her victory, stating, ‘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.’ A spokesperson for The Washington Post acknowledged the arbitration process but chose not to elaborate further. Attempts to reach Attiah for additional comments were unsuccessful.

Attiah sparked controversy with her posts on Bluesky, where she expressed her refusal to engage in performative mourning, stating, ‘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.’

Critics also criticized Attiah for misquoting Kirk in another post. She falsely attributed Kirk with saying, ‘Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a White person’s slot.’ In reality, on The Charlie Kirk Show, Kirk remarked about affirmative action picks and questioned the intelligence of certain public figures.

The backlash against Attiah’s posts eventually led to her firing, with The Post citing her posts as ‘unacceptable’ and accusing her of ‘gross misconduct.’

Last fall, Attiah challenged her termination legally, leading to the announcement in June of entering arbitration with the paper.