For subscribers: Taxpayers have spent more than $415,000 to defend the Arizona Senate after its leaders discriminated against a Black female aide.
Taxpayers have spent more than $415,000 to defend the Arizona Senate after its leaders discriminated against a Black female aide — a cost that surpasses the payment the staffer will receive after winning two jury trials in the case.
The remaining fees of approximately $260,000 tallied up in the months and years that followed, including for the second trial in November 2021. The $415,000 spent to defend the Senate doesn't include what the judge and jury ordered as payment to the staffer, which will drive the cost to taxpayers to more than $765,000.
Court records show settlement discussions took place at several stages of the case, including after Talonya Adams won her 2019 trial and a $1 million verdict against the Senate. Adams won an initial trial in 2019, but the Senate and its legal team sought a second trial arguing Adams Several staff lawyers in the Attorney General's Office also worked on the case, and it's also unclear if Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, will appeal the latest ruling, potentially leading to greater cost.The long-running case has become more than a courtroom drama coming at a cost to Arizonans; it has become a political liability for Senate leaders — and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is now running for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Still, Republicans have sought to make sure the spotlight continues on Hobbs, the Democratic frontrunner to replace Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who is term-limited and leaves office in January 2023.
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