Washington Post Reporter Who Called Out Sexist Tweet Fired

Felicia Sonmez, the reporter who first called out a sexist joke retweeted by her Washington Post colleague, has been fired by the newspaper. As CNN puts it, following the retweet issue, for which David Weigel was suspended for a month without pay, Sonmez publicly feuded with her place of employment and was "extraordinarily critical" of it. (She's also been critical of the paper in the past.) She also feuded with some of her other co-workers. A termination notice shown to CNN says that due to "misconduct that includes insubordination, maligning your coworkers online and violating the Post's standards on workplace collegiality and inclusivity," management "cannot allow you to continue to work as a journalist representing the Washington Post."

Per the Daily Beast, the "seemingly unending dramatics" started when Post reporter Jose A. Del Real criticized Sonmez for the way in which she called out Weigel, leading the two to trade shots on Twitter until he blocked her Sunday. Sonmez continued to publicly criticize what she says is inequity in the newsroom and a toxic workplace environment in which the (white, highly paid) "stars" of the newspaper are allowed to "'get away with murder' on social media," unlike others who work there. Some of her colleagues joined in the fray, publicly calling on her to stop, but a significant amount of support for her can also be found on Twitter. Sonmez has not publicly commented since her firing was reported. (More Washington Post stories.)