Washington Post ordered to rehire Karen Attiah after Charlie Kirk posts

Karen Attiah was fired for posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination that the Post said violated its social media policy.Published On 24 Aug 202624 Aug 2026An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah and award her back pay after finding the newspaper lacked sufficient grounds to fire her.Attiah was dismissed in September 2025 following social media posts about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Attiah’s firing came amid a broader conservative campaign seeking professional consequences for people whose comments about Kirk’s assassination were deemed offensive.“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. “After spending over a decade of my career at the Post as an editor and an opinion columnist focusing on race, gender and global human rights, I’m relieved to finally have that record set straight.”The decision was issued by private arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa, according to a copy obtained by Attiah’s lawyers and cited by US media. Espinosa determined that the Post had violated its labor...