Washington Post ordered to rehire columnist fired in wake of 'performative mourning for a white man' Bluesky post about Charlie Kirk murder

The Washington Post has been ordered to rehire a columnist after firing her for comments she made on social media following Charlie Kirk's assassination.A private arbitrator ordered the paper to reinstate Karen Attiah and compensate her with back pay on Thursday, The New York Times reported.Sarah Miller Espinosa ruled that the Post 'did not have good and sufficient cause' to terminate the former opinion editor and 'violated' the terms of her employment, according to a copy of the decision obtained by the paper.'The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,' a line read.The Post originally announced it was firing Attiah the day after the conservative commentator's assassination in September last year, citing a series of posts on her BlueSky account.One maintained that 'part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence' on September 10. In another penned on the same day, Attiah, 40, declared she was '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.'Post HR chief Wayne Connell promptly told the columnist she had marred 'the integrity' of the paper in a September 11 termination letter. The Washington Post will have to rehire longtime columnist Karen Attiah, 40, after firing her in September 2025 for comments she made following Charlie Kirk's assassination Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa ruled the Post 'did not have good and sufficient cause' to terminate the staffer based on the social media posts, The New York Times reportedThe letter, published by Status on September 15, advised Attiah that she had been fired for violating the publication's social media policies.'Your public comments on social media regarding the death of Charlie Kirk... harm the integrity of our organization, and potentially endanger the physical safety of our staff,' a portion read.A spokeswoman for The Post said the paper respected the arbitration process and declined to comment on the matter further when approached by the Daily Mail.Attiah celebrated the ruling in a statement sent to the Times, saying she hoped the decision 'sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.'She also added she was 'willing to go back' to work at the Post and was 'relieved to finally have that record set straight.''This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion writer, and this was wrongful termination,' she said in her statement, calling the Jeff Bezos-owned publication 'one of the world’s most storied newspapers.'Private arbitration is an out-of-court method sometimes used to solve legal disagreementsKirk, whose alleged assassin is being tried and has not entered a plea, was fatally shot during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem. He was 31. Attiah penned the posts that day Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem The Post said Attiah harmed 'the integrity' of the organization with her discourseThe assassination went on to divide the country due to Kirk's views. Journalists like MSNBC's Matthew Dowd were fired for implying it was his 'hateful words' that got him killed, for instance.At the time, Attiah told Status her posts had referred to 'the state of gun violence in general.''It’s a level of cruelty I did not expect,' she said of the Post's decision to part ways with her over them.Bezos implemented a host of changes to the Post's Opinion Section just months prior, shortly after attending President Donald Trump's inauguration.A new tone shifted to focus on 'personal liberties and free markets' rather than the content readers had come to know over the years.The Amazon founder also pulled a last-minute Post endorsement of then-candidate Kamala Harris not long before – a decision met with anger from both staff and readers. A slew of high-profile exits from staffers followed.Bezos bought the paper for $250 million in 2013 with the intent of making it 'profitable,' he said at the time.The Post lost more than $100 million in 2025, after several years of heavy financial losses.