Post ordered to reinstate Black writer fired for Charlie Kirk posts
An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate opinion writer Karen Attiah after she was fired for social media posts regarding the death of podcaster Charlie Kirk. The ruling found the newspaper lacked sufficient cause for termination and ordered full back pay and benefits.
Why it matters
This case highlights the ongoing tension between media organizations' editorial standards and the personal social media expression of their journalists.
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An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate a Black opinion writer fired over social media posts about violent white men following last year’s killing of Charlie Kirk.
The ruling Thursday said the newspaper did not have sufficient cause to terminate Karen Attiah , who at the time was the last Black full-time member of the Post’s opinion desk . The arbitrator, Sarah Miller Espinosa, also ordered the Post to award Attiah full back pay and lost benefits.
Kirk , who rose from a teenage conservative campus activist to become a top podcaster and ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Sept. 10 during a public appearance at Utah Valley University. He was 31.
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