An independent arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate opinion columnist Karen Attiah and compensate her for lost wages, ruling that her termination last year violated the newspaper's labor agreement.
Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa concluded that the Post lacked good and sufficient cause to fire Attiah over social media comments she made on 10 September 2025, the day conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. The Post had argued Attiah was dismissed for cause after violating its social media policy, with opinion editor Adam O'Neal describing her posts as "beyond the pale." Espinosa found the termination "absolutely disproportional" and noted the publisher's witnesses attempted to hold Attiah accountable for threats made by third parties.
Attiah, the founding Global Opinions editor who joined the Post in 2014, was backed by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild and Democracy Defenders Action. Norm Eisen, representing Attiah, called the decision "a thunderous victory."