Senate aide says Katie Hobbs ‘not fit to serve as governor’
Talonya Adams speaks out after winning another victory in court
She filed the lawsuit as Jane Doe because she knew what she was up against.
The Arizona Senate aide, a Black woman who worked there for just over two years, was alleging in court that the leaders of the state Legislature fired her for complaining about a $30,000 disparity between her pay and that of white men.
Now, over four years after filing that lawsuit, Jane Doe’s real name — Talonya Adams — is at the forefront of Arizona politics.
Despite the shame of being fired that prompted her to seek anonymity, Adams is speaking out about her firing by officials including Katie Hobbs, the Senate Democratic leader at the time who is now Secretary of State and seeking to be Arizona’s next governor.
She is buoyed by two federal jury verdicts in her favor, the most recent on Nov. 10.
“I firmly believe that Katie Hobbs is not fit to serve as governor of the state of Arizona,” Adams said, adding that Hobbs should resign her current position as the state’s election overseer.
While Adams speaks up, Hobbs has stepped back. Hobbs’ campaign has declined multiple requests for interviews from The Arizona Republic and issued two statements that have only inflamed concern from members of her party and communities of color that are typically aligned with the Democrats.
Hobbs apologized to Adams in 2019, following a first trial on the discrimination claims. But last week, after a second jury awarded Adams a $2.75 million judgment, Hobbs issued a statement blaming the Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature. In a letter to supporters sent Thursday, Hobbs said she took responsibility for her role in firing Adams, but that her decision was not based on race or gender.
But Hobbs’ two-page letter didn’t satisfy critics who say Hobbs needs to acknowledge discrimination did occur.
“It does not change our stance one bit,” Cloves Campbell, a Black former lawmaker and publisher of the Arizona Informant said of Hobbs’ latest statement. “If anything, it proves our point.”
Campbell and five other Black leaders criticized Hobbs for refusing to take responsibility for firing Adams and pledged to work against her bid to become Arizona’s chief executive. Adams said Hobbs’ shifting statements were “a colossal failure of anyone who would call themselves a leader.”
Hobbs, who was a witness during Adams’ trials, was viewed as the frontrunner in the contest for the Democratic nomination. The discrimination verdict is sure to surface in political attacks ahead of the August 2022 primary election.
Hobbs has acknowledged she participated in the decision to fire Adams, saying in court that she lost trust in Adams.
While Adams claimed — and a jury agreed — that she was fired in retaliation, the state argued in court that Adams was fired for going outside the rules when raising concerns and for abandoning her job. Adams left the state to take care of her son following a medical emergency, according to the court record.
‘It makes a difference that I am here’
Adams fought back tears as she talked of the yearslong legal ordeal that began with her firing in early 2015 via a phone call from then-Republican Chief of Staff Wendy Baldo.
“I felt like an absolute failure,” Adams said. Adams began taking medications for depression, “trying to do anything I could to just stay on the planet,” she said. She ultimately decided to start her own law firm and take formal action against the state over her termination.
She represented herself at trial, a rare feat especially given she proved her case to two different juries. Adams will not receive the full amount of damages the jury awarded her — the $2.75 million — because of caps in federal law. Those limit the most recent verdict to about $300,000.
Adams has said she hopes her victories signal other women and people of color can stand up and fight discrimination. In 2019, she won a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes ordering the Senate to give Adams her job back.
She didn’t hesitate to take it and remains on the Senate payroll.
“I loved being a policy adviser,” she said. “I think public policy is the lever in our society that can change lives, and childhoods, generations at a time and the most effectively. And I cared deeply about the citizens of Arizona and to be able to help constituents was a real joy for me.”
“I think it makes a difference that I am here,” she said.