The Republican nominee for governor in Arizona, Kari Lake, is reminding voters of her opponent Katie Hobbs’ multimillion-dollar judgment for discrimination against one of her former black staff members.
In a recent appearance on One America News, Lake discussed the verdict of the multimillion-dollar racial discrimination case against Hobbs as she discussed how Hobbs has refused to debate with her. Lake stated:
Katie Hobbs is MIA. It’s just crazy. You should have to debate your opponent right? But she refuses to debate me. I guess I can’t blame her. She doesn’t have anything to run on. She knows that I’m going to hold her accountable for her horrific record. This woman is a monster. She has been twice convicted of being a racist. Two separate juries convicted Hobbs of racial discrimination costing the voters close to $3 million.
Lake's comments were regarding the 2021 verdict that which gave almost three million dollars to one of Hobbs former employees who complained of race and gender discrimination. This $2.75 million judgment was Arizona’s second-highest civil verdict in 2021, Arizona Attorney Magazine stated.
In 2015, Talonya Adams, who worked for the then-Arizona Senate Minority Leader Hobbs, found out her male and white colleagues were receiving higher salaries than her. After she found this out, Adams asked to be paid the same as her coworkers.
Adams took a family leave that had been already approved just after requesting an increase, however she was unable to return to her role as an Arizona Senate policy advisor. Adams was told that the Senate had decided to end her job while she took the leave.
After her dismissal, Adams sued Hobbs and the Arizona Senate in a claim that she was fired as the retaliation for bringing up the fact that she was paid a disproportionately low salary. Following Adams's suit, two federal juries decided in her favor and granted the plaintiff $2.75 million in compensation.
The first jury found that Adams had been underpaid due to the fact that she is an African-American woman. In addition, a second jury determined the termination of her employment was in retaliation and awarded her $750,000 for physical, mental, and emotional damages. She also received two million in damages related to her retaliation claims.
In spite of the multimillion-dollar jury verdict, Arizona taxpayers were limited to paying Adams $300,000 in accordance with the federal jury award caps law.
Adams’ lawsuit filed against Hobbs, who is now Arizona's Secretary of State, came into the spotlight in Hobbs' Democrat gubernatorial primary campaign. Hobbs posted a three-minute video in December in which she apologized for her discrimination as well as the “short sighted, unnecessarily defensive,” response towards the $2.75 million jury verdict.
Hobbs also said she would make positions in every federal organization “dedicated to collaborating with communities of color and marginalized communities” in the event she becomes the governor of Arizona.
In reality, Hobbs' apology was not enough for the victim of Hobbs’ discrimination. Adams attacked Hobbs for having issued an apology that was a “response to a political crisis,” instead of an apology in the real sense.
“Her response is a response to a political crisis,” Adams stated in a press conference just a day after Hobbs apologized. “Her statement is not an apology, it’s designed to allow her to get over a political hurdle.”
“As a single mom of two children, I know the effects the loss of a job has on families,” Adams stated as she fought back tears.
Adams also urged Hobbs to quit her position as the Secretary of State and to drop out of the gubernatorial contest.
