Washington Post ordered to reinstate Black opinion writer fired after Charlie Kirk posts
- An arbitrator ordered The Washington Post to reinstate Karen Attiah, a Black opinion writer fired over social media posts about Charlie Kirk.
- The ruling stated the newspaper did not have sufficient cause to terminate Attiah's employment.
- Attiah was the last Black full-time member of the Post's opinion desk at the time of her firing.
- The arbitrator also ordered the Post to provide Attiah with full back pay and lost benefits.
- Attiah's posts followed the killing of Charlie Kirk, which sparked a debate over First Amendment rights.
An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate a Black opinion writer fired over social media posts about violent white men following last year’s killing of Charlie Kirk. The ruling said the newspaper did not have sufficient cause to terminate Karen Attiah, who at the time was the last Black full-time member of the Post’s opinion desk.
The arbitrator, Sarah Miller Espinosa, also ordered the Post to award Attiah full back pay and lost benefits. Kirk, who was shot and killed during a public appearance, was a controversial figure known for his provocative statements about race and politics.
Attiah made several posts on social media after Kirk’s death, which led to her termination. The Post accused her of “gross misconduct,” but the arbitrator found that the newspaper failed to establish that claim and violated the collective bargaining agreement with the newspaper’s union.
华盛顿邮报被命令重新聘用因查理·柯克事件被解雇的黑人专栏作家
仲裁员命令华盛顿邮报重新聘用因社交媒体帖子被解雇的黑人专栏作家，原因是她在查理·柯克被杀后发表的言论。裁决指出，该报没有充分理由终止卡伦·阿提亚的雇佣关系，阿提亚在被解雇时是华盛顿邮报意见专栏的最后一位黑人全职成员。
仲裁员莎拉·米勒·埃斯皮诺萨还命令华盛顿邮报向阿提亚支付全额工资和失去的福利。柯克在公开活动中被枪杀，是一位因对种族和政治发表挑衅性言论而备受争议的人物。
阿提亚在柯克去世后在社交媒体上发表了几条帖子，这导致了她的解雇。华盛顿邮报指控她“严重失职”，但仲裁员发现该报未能证实这一指控，并违反了与报社工会的集体谈判协议。