Taxpayers Foot Bill for Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs Racial Discrimination Case

Democratic Candidate For Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Visits A Polling Place On Primary El
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Nick Gilbertson

The plaintiff who successfully sued the Arizona Senate for racial and sex discrimination in the workplace, which she says Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Katie Hobbs is responsible for, has finally received her $300,000 award.

On Thursday, the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) informed Breitbart News via a public record request that a $300,000 payment was issued to the plaintiff, Talonya Adams, on September 21. A jury awarded $2.75 million in damages to Adams, but state law caps the award at $300,000. What is more, the ADOA informs Breitbart News the total cost of the Senate’s legal fees has reached $458,806, up nearly $40,000 from the $415,000 reported by the Arizona Republic in March. In total, Arizona taxpayers have paid $758,806 between the award and legal fees.

As Breitbart News reported:

Back in 2015, Talonya Adams, who worked for then-Arizona Senate minority leader Hobbs, discovered her white and male colleagues were being paid more than she. After this discovery, Adams asked to be paid as much as her fellow staffers.

Adams took an already approved family leave shortly after asking for a raise, but she would not return to her position as an Arizona Senate policy adviser. Adams was informed that the Senate would terminate her employment while she was on leave.

As a result of her termination, Adams sued Hobbs and the Arizona Senate, alleging she was fired in retaliation for highlighting her discriminatory pay. After Adams’ lawsuit, two separate federal juries ruled in her favor and awarded her $2.75 million in damages.

Hobbs, now the secretary of state for Arizona, testified at both trials and maintained “that she had lost trust in Adams related to issues about chain-of-command,” the Arizona Republic reported.

“This was Katie Hobbs’ decision,” Talonya Adams told KPNX. “I think she’s always been very uncomfortable with minorities. She seems wholly disconnected from people of color.”

In an apology, the candidate said she was “truly sorry for the harm she caused Ms. Adams and her family.”

The case has been a headache for Hobbs on the campaign trail. Adams endorsed her Democrat primary opponent, Marco Lopez, during a “scathing press conference,” as Axios Phoenix reported in July. Hobbs advanced from the primary and has been receiving heavy criticism over the case from Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who has dubbed Hobbs a “monster” who is “twice convicted of racism.”

On Sunday, Adams sent out a tweet claiming the Hobbs campaign has been trying to silence or draw support from her with “offers.”

Hobbs “& Co have extended offers (and pressure) promising nearly anything under the sun, in exchange for my silence, support, endorsement,” she wrote.  Lake “& Co have neither offered nor promised me anything.” 
The case is Adams v. Arizona Senate, No. CV-17-00822-PHX-DLR, in the United States District Court for Arizona.

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