Washington Post ordered to rehire columnist Karen Attiah

A private arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate Ghanaian-American opinion columnist Karen Attiah and provide her with back pay and lost benefits. The ruling, issued by arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa, concluded that the newspaper “did not have good and sufficient cause” to terminate Attiah and had breached its labor agreement.

Attiah was dismissed in September 2025 following social media posts made on the Bluesky platform after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Post had characterized her comments as “gross misconduct” that violated social media policies and harmed the organization’s integrity. Attiah’s posts included a refusal to engage in “performative mourning” for Kirk and references to his past controversial remarks regarding Black women.

The decision follows a challenge led by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild and the Democracy Defenders Fund. Attiah, who had been with the publication for 11 years, described the ruling as a victory for freedom of expression in journalism. The Washington Post stated that it respects the arbitration process but declined to provide further details.