And she tried to blame the GOP too… Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Hobbs is facing some backlash after it has become public knowledge that she discriminated against Black Senate worker, Talonya Adams, firing her for speaking up about how she was not being paid as much as white Senate workers.
“An African-American policy adviser who won a multimillion-dollar jury award for racial and sex discrimination by the Arizona State Senate blames her former boss – Democratic Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs – for her firing.
“This was Katie Hobbs’ decision,” Talonya Adams said in an interview. “I think she’s always been very uncomfortable with minorities. She seems wholly disconnected from people of color.
Hobbs, who was subpoenaed to testify in the trial, said at the conclusion of her testimony last week that she wished she had been a “better ally” for Adams.
“I don’t need her to be my ally,” Adams said in the interview. “I need her not to discriminate against black people.”
Last week, an all-white Federal Court jury found that Adams was fired by the state Senate in 2015 because she complained that her low pay was the result of racial and sex discrimination.
the jury awarded Adams $2 million in compensation for damages suffered because of the retaliatory firing. She was awarded $750,000 for the discrimination itself.
The jury deliberated for three hours after the three-day trial.
A Federal Court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. The Senate has a month to file an appeal or seek reconsideration of the verdict points.
“Adams said it was Wendy Baldo, chief of staff for the majority Senate Republicans, who fired her over the phone. Baldo testified in court that the decision was up to Hobbs.
After Adams was fired, a white male was hired to fill her role for $40,000 more than the $60,000 Adams was paid, Adams said.”
Hobbs tried to originally blame the GOP-run Senate but they cleared that up real quick explaining Hobbs had full discretion on pay and hiring and firing.