The Washington Post is required to reinstate Karen Attiah and pay her full back pay following an arbitration decision.

A private arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to rehire opinion columnist Karen Attiah, who was fired in over her social media posts about the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/business/washington-post-karen-attiah.html?unlocked_article_code=1.71A.dmHc.FsRD3UHBQVTj&smid=nytcore-ios-share

A private arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to rehire award-winning opinion columnist Karen Attiah with back pay. Attiah was fired last fall over comments she made following the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Shortly after Kirk was killed last September, Attiah wrote online, “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 Washington Post argued that my posts disparaged white men and were in violation of their social media policy,” says Attiah, who attributes her ability to challenge her firing to her union, the Washington Post Guild. “I am very much ready and willing to go back to writing,” she says. “My beat was writing about race, gender, human rights and global issues. So, I fully expect — and, frankly, demand — that I be able to publish freely, that I be able to write freely. " http://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/26/they_threw_me_to_the_wolves

Opinion columnist Karen Attiah won her arbitration against the Washington Post. They are ordered to reinstate her and pay full back pay. The Post fired her almost a year ago for her remarks in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/business/washington-post-karen-attiah.html?unlocked_article_code=1.71A.MIsp.hZLydEMjrl9o

“Washington Post Ordered to Rehire Fired Columnist An arbitrator ordered the newspaper to reinstate Karen Attiah, who was fired after posting about “white men who espouse hatred and violence” following Charlie Kirk’s killing.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/business/washington-post-karen-attiah.html?unlocked_article_code=1.71A.gMIG.WaCBKKz0xy-X&smid=nytcore-ios-share

BREAKING: An arbitrator orders the Washington Post to rehire fired columnist/journalist Karen Attiah. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/business/washington-post-karen-attiah.html?unlocked_article_code=1.71A.6RXc.A7gQCI0IsqS4&smid=nytcore-ios-share

The Washington Post has been ordered to rehire opinion writer Karen Attiah, who was fired over social media posts about violent white men following the murder of Charlie Kirk. Attiah, who was at the time the newspaper's only Black female opinion writer, was emailed a termination letter accusing her of "gross misconduct." An arbitrator found that the Post "did not have good and sufficient cause to terminate" her employment. Here's more from @AssociatedPress. https://flip.it/2OkWJc #WashingtonPost #Journalism #BlackMastodon