A private arbiter has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate columnist Karen Attiah nearly a year after she was fired over social media posts made after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death, according to the New York Times. The paper “violated” its labor agreement and “did not have good and sufficient cause” to terminate her, the Times reported, and the ruling orders her reinstatement.
Arbitration finding and next steps
The New York Times reported that the decision came from a private arbiter who concluded the Post lacked sufficient cause under its labor agreement to fire Attiah. The ruling requires the Post to bring her back. DailyHeadlines.net has not reviewed the arbitration decision.
What sparked the firing
The source text states Attiah’s termination followed posts made in the immediate aftermath of what it described as Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It also quotes Attiah as having categorized Kirk as a “white [man] who espouse hatred and violence.”
Attiah: “I won my case”
“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,” Attiah wrote in an Aug. 24 post on X.
Disputed quote and context
The source text further states that Attiah posted an invented quote attributed to Kirk that read, “Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot.” According to the same source, Kirk’s original remark criticized affirmative action and named former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, television host Joy Reid, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and former First Lady Michelle Obama, saying they did not have “the brain processing power to otherwise be taken seriously.”
Now-deleted post
Attiah also wrote in a now-deleted Bluesky post: “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,” according to the source text.
