SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The former Rancho Cordova police chief has filed suit against Sacramento County and Sheriff Scott Jones after her forced resignation over racist memes that she shared in a 2013 text conversation.
The attorney for Kate Adams says the 27-year-veteran law enforcement officer's messages were taken out of context.
"She was sharing them to condemn them," said Karin Sweigart. "She was sharing them to show people that this was wrong, and that something was going on in the community that she disagreed with," she said.
When Adams retired in September 2021, Rancho Cordova city leaders praised her career achievements and contributions to the community.
Six months later, the racist memes came to light in a NAACP open letter to Sheriff Scott Jones, leaving Adams' reputation in tatters.
“She wants to clear her name, she wants the truth to come out, and she wants other people to not have to face the same kind of retaliation in the future," Sweigart said.
The federal lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, alleges a pattern of retaliatory complaints from other employees in the department, one of whom raised concerns about a 2013 text conversation with Adams.
"She with other officers off the clock, and her own text message, she condemned a racist meme. Seven years later, one of those officers in retaliation, took it out of context, and reported it and used it to label her as a racist - something that she had been fighting her entire career against," Sweigart said.
Sweigart said Adams was given the choice to resign quietly or to be fired and allow the allegations to go public.
Sacramento County did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication of this article.
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