Washington Post Firing Announcement – Look Who’s Leaving!
(DailyVantage.com) – It’s not uncommon to encounter animosity and fighting on social media outlets, particularly when they center around hot-button issues. However, a Washington Post reporter now finds herself in the unemployment line after refusing to listen to her superiors and stop the infighting — especially since it happened on Twitter for everyone to see.
NEWS: Felicia Sonmez was *fired* by The Washington Post, per sources familiar. This was not a separation agreement. https://t.co/aSSaPB6XuI
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) June 9, 2022
It all started on June 3, when Felicia Sonmez posted a screenshot of a retweet featuring an off-color joke disparaging women posted by one of her co-workers. From there, it turned into a complete mess, with Sonmez receiving both backlash and support when she started talking about how media companies, including The Washington Post, which she worked for at the time, treat their employees.
Of course the Washington Post is a great workplace.
It is a great workplace *for them.*
The system is working *for them.*
What about for everyone else?
The General Assignment team? The Morning Mix team? The newsletter researchers? 11/ https://t.co/ZndIMq5RZe
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 9, 2022
Her posts sparked a lot of infighting — and public squabbling — among WaPo employees and ultimately led to Executive Editor Sally Buzbee sending out a blanket statement to the company’s employees, essentially telling them to knock it off.
New: @SallyBuzbee sends stern memo to WaPo staff, reiterating newsroom's values against "racist or sexist behavior" and saying that "we do not tolerate colleagues attacking colleagues either face to face or online." pic.twitter.com/E2bpiFCCyS
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 7, 2022
Sonmez refused to stop, continuing to post disparaging remarks toward the media in general. This incident wasn’t her first run-in with her employer, either. She lost a lawsuit against WaPo after suing them for discrimination.
WaPo fired Sonmez and emailed a termination letter giving the reason for her termination as “misconduct that includes insubordination, maligning [her] coworkers online and violating” The Washington Post’s workplace standards regarding “collegiality and inclusivity.”
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