Arbitrator Orders Washington Post to Rehire Columnist Fired Over Kirk Comments
RightRigor 55Analysis21 sources
The Story
A private arbitrator ordered The Washington Post to rehire opinion columnist Karen Attiah with full back pay and benefits, ruling the newspaper lacked good and sufficient cause to fire her last year. Attiah was terminated on September 11, 2025, one day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a speaking event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The Post's termination letter cited two of Attiah’s posts on Bluesky, stating they violated the paper’s social media policies, harmed its integrity, and potentially endangered staff. In one post, Attiah wrote that refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence was not the same as violence. In another, she wrote that part of what makes America violent is the expectation that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence. Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa found Attiah’s posts were ill-timed given the fraught atmosphere but did not constitute gross misconduct. Attiah, who worked at the Post for 11 years, filed a grievance against the paper, arguing she was wrongfully terminated and a victim of a broader purge of Black voices. She told The New York Times she would be willing to go back to the Post. The Post spokesperson stated the paper respects the arbitration process, which is generally binding under its labor agreement. The arbitration decision also revealed the Post had planned to reassign Attiah from Opinion Columnist to Letters Editor, with unchanged pay and benefits. Democracy Defenders Fund, which represented Attiah, called the ruling a landmark moment for press freedom. Separately, left-wing streamer Hasan Piker is facing criticism for mocking Kirk's assassination.
The Spread
Right
What they agree on
- A private arbitrator ordered The Washington Post to rehire opinion columnist Karen Attiah.
- Attiah was fired in September 2025 over social media posts she made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
- The arbitrator ruled that The Washington Post lacked "good and sufficient cause" to terminate Attiah's employment.
- The ruling requires The Washington Post to provide Attiah with full back pay and benefits.
- Attiah's social media posts included comments about "performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence."
Where they split
- The Washington Free Beacon and RedState emphasize the controversial nature of Attiah's comments and frame her reinstatement as a victory for "woketivists" or a "bad ex who blackmailed her way back."
- The Associated Press and The New York Times focus on the legal aspect of the arbitration ruling, detailing the arbitrator's findings that the Post lacked sufficient cause for termination.
- PJ Media and The New York Sun devote coverage to Hasan Piker's mockery of Charlie Kirk's assassination, framing it as "depraved" or an update to Orwell's "Two Minutes Hate."
- Just The News and The Blaze highlight specific quotes from Attiah's posts, such as describing Kirk as a "white man who espoused violence," and the context of her firing.
Source Perspectives
Left3 sources
Right14 sources