PHOENIX — A staffer for state Senate Democrats, who says she was fired because of her race, was awarded more than $2.7 million this week by a federal court jury.
The verdict came after jurors heard from Talonya Adams that she was dismissed in 2015 after she complained about discrimination based on her race — she is Black — and her gender.
She said male, non-African-American counterparts “received substantially higher salaries and salary increases.’’
Adams also said that while the job responsibilities were the same, she had a “heavier workload and the more challenging committee assignments.’’ She was the only policy advisor who did not get a raise while she was there, she said.
She won't wind up with anywhere near as much money as the jury said she could get. That's because federal civil rights laws limit damages in discrimination cases to no more than $300,000.
The verdict already is causing political ripples.
Adams was, and continues to be, a staffer for Senate Democrats. A judge ordered her reinstated in the job in 2019 after a first trial also ended in her favor; that verdict was set aside over legal issues, which led to this second trial.
Part of Adams’ lawsuit was based on her contention that she informed Katie Hobbs, then the Senate minority leader, of her concerns about discrimination by her immediate superiors but that Hobbs did not deal with it and instead was at least partly involved in the decision to fire her.
Hobbs is now secretary of state and a Democratic candidate for governor.
Both of Hobbs’ rival Democratic candidates issued statements saying the court verdict reflects on her fitness to lead the state.
“This raises serious questions that Secretary of State Hobbs must answer and will cost taxpayers millions of dollars,’’ said Marco Lopez, a former Nogales mayor. “As governor, I will not tolerate this type or any kind of discriminatory behavior in my administration.’’
Former lawmaker Aaron Lieberman said a jury has concluded, now twice, “that Talonya Adams was fired by Katie Hobbs for asking to be paid as much as her white male counterparts.’’
“This type of discrimination is abhorrent to all Arizonans, regardless of party,’’ he continued. “As Democrats, it should be unacceptable from someone who wants to serve as our nominee for governor.’’
Hobbs was never named as a defendant.
Hobbs would not comment Thursday on the verdict, instead having Jennah Rivera, who is her campaign spokeswoman, issue a prepared statement. The statement did not directly address the issue at trial of whether Adams, as a Black woman, was treated different than other staffers.
Instead, Rivera said there was — and is — a “systemic’’ problem of Democratic staffers being paid less than those who work for Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate. And Rivera said Hobbs not only fought as Senate minority leader for pay increases for Democratic staffers but, as secretary of state, tackled pay inequity issues on that office.
As to whether Hobbs fired Adams, KPNX-TV reports that Hobbs testified at the trial this week that the dismissal was a “group decision’’ by “consensus,’’ with the ultimate dismissal done by Wendy Baldo, then the Senate’s chief of staff.
Hobbs, who was two months into the job of minority leader at the time of the dismissal, also testified that she had “lost trust’’ in Adams over several issues, including her decision to take emergency leave to care for her son in Seattle.
It was during that leave — which Adams’ immediate supervisor had approved — that she was fired.
“I do not question that she felt discriminated against,’’ Hobbs said in an earlier interview with Capitol Media Services after the first trial. But Hobbs also said no one was wrongfully fired when she was heading the Senate Democrats.
Adams, also talking with Capitol Media Services after the first trial, criticized Hobbs for maintaining her position that her firing was justified even after jurors concluded otherwise.
“To have a sitting secretary of state state that there was no discrimination I think is disrespectful to our judicial system,’’ Adams said. “And it gives me grave concern about someone that sits at the helm and governs one of the most sacred rights to people of color. And that’s the right to vote.’’
Hobbs is the chief elections officer.
In the first trial a jury awarded Adams $1 million. That was reduced to $300,000 after U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes said that is the maximum to which she is entitled under federal anti-discrimination laws, with another approximately $50,000 for things like lost wages.
The Senate demanded and got a new trial after Rayes agreed that Adams, who represented herself, had failed to present evidence of retaliation.
The the new jury agreed on a larger award.
Whether that also will be knocked down based on limits in federal law is likely to be the subject of a hearing Rayes has scheduled for this next week.
Aside from complaining about pay and assignments, Adams said that in early 2015 she had to travel to Seattle to be with her son who was hospitalized due to a medical emergency, saying she was told she would have to use annual leave.
Adams said she kept in contact with the Senate and did some duties while in Seattle, only to be told she had been fired for insubordination and abandoning her job.
In a 2019 interview, Hobbs said the fact Adams was paid less than some others had nothing to do with race, calling it an issue with the salary structure.
“Democratic staff get paid less than Republican staff,’’ she said.
Hobbs testified at the new trial that she did not know that anyone had, in fact, approved the emergency leave. She said she wished he had been a “better ally” for Adams.
Adams said after the first trial that it is difficult to prove claims of racism, particularly in convincing jurors that the actions of the employer were intentional. That is why it is difficult to find attorneys to pursue these cases and why she chose to represent herself, she said.
