Sarah Miller Espinosa

Karen Attiah, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, has been ordered reinstated by an independent arbitrator. The ruling, issued recently, found that the newspaper lacked sufficient grounds to dismiss Attiah in September 2025. Her termination followed social media posts she made concerning Charlie Kirk, which the Post had cited as violations of its social media policy. The arbitrator's decision mandates that Attiah receive back pay in addition to her reinstatement. This development is significant as it addresses the newspaper's handling of employee speech and its adherence to its own policies, particularly in the context of opinion writers and their public commentary.