A reporter who filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Washington Post and then tried to expose her employer’s alleged toxic workplace environment has been fired.
According to CNN, multiple people confirmed the termination of Felicia Sonmez who brazenly tweeted about her colleagues and the Post’s management style. The paper reportedly issued social media edicts which Sonmez subsequently ignored.
In a thread pinned to the top of her page, Sonmez reveals the Washington Post’s recommendations for social media use at the National Desk. Saying, “two years later, nothing has changed.”
A lawsuit filed by Sonmez last year and later dismissed claimed that she faced discrimination on the job after she went public with her account of being a sexual assault victim. In 2020, Sonmez was placed on administrative leave by the paper after she tweeted a link from the Daily Beast regarding rape allegations against the late basketball star Kobe Bryant.
According to the New York Post, Sonmez’s former colleagues describe her tweeting habits about the Washington Post as, “pouring gasoline on the fire and inviting people to watch.”
Sonmez said fellow reporters “issued synchronized tweets” to attack her. Claiming that all the reporters were “white” and are “among the highest-paid employees in the newsroom, making double and even triple what some other National desk reporters are making, particularly journalists of color.”She added: “They are among the ‘stars’ who ‘get away with murder’ on social media.”
Sonmez accused the Washington Post of “punishing reporters for their trauma” and of “discouraging them from seeking help they need.”
“And to the many folks inside and outside the Post who have voiced support and joined in calling for institutional change, thank you,” she added.
