Arbitrator determined the Post improperly fired Karen Attiah, a union-protected employee, over social media posts

An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire the high-profile opinion columnist Karen Attiah, abruptly fired by the news organization last September over comments she made on social media about Charlie Kirk, the then recently slain conservative activist.

On Monday, an arbitrator ruled that the Post had violated her rights as a union-protected employee and ordered the newspaper to reinstate her and compensate her for lost wages.

“This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion journalist, and doing that job is not misconduct,” Attiah said in a statement. “After spending over a decade of my career at the Post as an editor and an opinion columnist focusing on race, gender and global human rights, I’m relieved to finally have that record set straight … I hope that this win sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.”

  • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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    9 hours ago

    I’m glad he’s dead, and the world is a brighter place for his lack. I only wish he’d been conscious a while to feel the doom weighing upon him.

    That’s the level of vitriol I would love to have read. Right-wingers got off easy.

  • Seleni@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    Well good for her! All she did was point out that Charlie Kirk said hateful things and she wasn’t sad he was gone, which is about as tame as an opinion piece gets. That firing had ‘butthurt white people’ all over it.

  • LeonineAlpha@sh.itjust.works
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    11 hours ago

    Imagine being the union rep making the phonecall…

    “Good news/Bad news…we got your job at The Washington Post back…”

    • JayDee@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      She posted somewhere saying she’s returning. It is also with backpay which is cool

    • AeronMelon@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      It’s the principal of the things.

      They get ordered to give you your job back, then you quit on toxic work environment and harassment grounds.

    • Tynan@lemmy.ml
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      12 hours ago

      It’s retroactive. Whether not she wants to, she was supposed to have the option.

  • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    I’m gonna be real here, journalists shouldn’t be fired over opinion pieces, but also fuck opinion pieces. They had their purpose back in the day, but opinion just means clickbait anymore.