Washington Post columnist rehired after being laid off for comments on Charlie Kirk's assassination

The Washington Post has been ordered to rehire opinion columnist Karen Attiah with back pay after the private arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa ruled the newspaper had no valid reason to fire her in September. Attiah was dismissed following her social media posts about conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination in September 2025.

The arbitrator found that the Post did not have adequate cause to terminate Attiah and had violated its labor agreement as it failed to prove she engaged in gross misconduct. Attiah stated she was simply doing her job as an opinion journalist and claimed her actions were not misconduct. A spokesperson for the Post said the newspaper respects the arbitration process and declined further comment.

The dispute began after Attiah's social media posts, including one noting Kirk's past comments about black women, were deemed to violate the Post's social media policy. The Post recently laid off a third of its employees due to financial losses, a move that came under scrutiny as owner Jeff Bezos focused on personal liberties and free markets.