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The National Labor Relations Board is seeking reinstatement and back pay for former Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez, who was fired in 2022 after attacking colleagues and fiercely criticizing the paper on social media.
Sonmez was terminated for insubordination after she continued condemning other Post reporters online despite multiple memos issued by then-executive editor Sally Buzbee calling for civility. The Washington-Baltimore News Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge over Sonmez’s firing. The NLRB, Guild and Washington Post each filed briefs on Friday.
“To put it bluntly, Respondent just got sick of Sonmez’s Twitter activity criticizing the Post’s and its policies, as well as its implementation—or lack thereof—of those policies. In response, Respondent decided to bypass its progressive discipline system and fire her because of those criticisms,” NLRB prosecutors said.
When asking for the complaint to be dismissed, the Post argued that allowing Sonmez to return to the company “would cause unmanageable and unacceptable disruption,” and referred to the actions that resulted in her dismissal as a “seven-day tirade.”
“Because Sonmez lacks the ‘journalistic integrity’ necessary to work in the Post’s newsroom, she should not be reinstated,” the Post argued.
The Guild believes the Post violated her rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
The saga began in June 2022 when Sonmez went after then-colleague Dave Weigel for retweeting a joke: “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
Sonmez was not amused and publicly criticized her colleague, also attacking her workplace by reacting, “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!”
Sonmez then launched a days-long public tirade against the Post and many of her colleagues.
Weigel was placed on a one-month unpaid suspension despite having removed the retweet and issuing an apology. He left the Post to join the start-up site Semafor later that year.
However, Sonmez’s tweetstorms berating co-workers continued, and she began receiving public pushback from Post colleagues, who Sonmez then attacked publicly.
She repeatedly ripped the paper’s social media policy throughout the ordeal. Sonmez even took aim at “White” reporters who expressed solidarity with the paper amid infighting.
“I don’t know who the colleagues anonymously disparaging me in media reports are. But I do know that the reporters who issued synchronized tweets this week downplaying the Post’s workplace issues have a few things in common with each other,” Sonmez wrote during a lengthy Twitter thread, saying they “are all White.”
Despite Buzbee urging staffers to treat each other respectfully, following a week of constant viral warfare between Post colleagues, Sonmez was terminated. The Washington Post unveiled an updated social media policy after the ordeal.
NLRB prosecutors are seeking reinstatement and back pay for Sonmez, who now works for Blue Ridge Public Radio. Sonmez declined comment.
“The decision is now up to the judge,” Sonmez wrote on X.
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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