|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
In a story that keeps repeating itself, Santa Clara County’s top prosecutor won’t let a political rival who works for him return to the office — while the county continues to pay the employee a six-figure salary.
A June 13 letter from District Attorney Jeff Rosen — obtained by San José Spotlight — instructs a deputy prosecutor, Daniel Chung, not to perform any assignments despite being reinstated and ordered to return to work by the county’s Personnel Board on May 15. A 2021 free speech lawsuit Chung filed in federal court is still pending, with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 4. Chung is seeking civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.
Jim McManis, Chung’s attorney, questions why the public is paying his client’s salary for no work. Chung is making more than $200,000 in annual gross pay.
“It’s scandalous. He’s getting paid over $200,000 to sit at home,” McManis told San José Spotlight. “It’s not coming out of the DA’s pocket. It’s coming out of the county purse — and we’re reading all the time about how the county is strapped for money.”
Rosen’s office declined to comment, citing Chung’s lawsuit.
“This is both a personnel matter and the subject of pending litigation. We will continue to manage these issues within those venues,” a spokesperson for Rosen told San José Spotlight.
It marks the latest turn in a protracted battle between Rosen and the subordinate who publicly challenged him in 2021 — and his elected office in 2022.
Chung, who will again seek Rosen’s office in 2026, originally squared off with the DA after writing a 2021 opinion article critical of progressive criminal justice reforms following racist violence toward Asian Americans. Rosen suspended Chung for a week on the charge that he used his county-issued work laptop and email address to submit the article, and his official title, without permission. Rosen reassigned him from criminal cases to cases dealing with mental health and juveniles.
Chung then wrote several more opinion articles critical of the DA’s office, including one claiming Rosen “chose to swiftly and furiously retaliate” against him. Rosen placed Chung on paid administrative leave in May 2021, and issued “be on the lookout” alerts and security notices barring Chung from county property.
After a mass shooting at a VTA light rail yard in San Jose that month, Rosen’s office took the lead in assisting victims’ families. Chung arrived at an American Red Cross facility during work hours where DA officials gathered with family members, shortly before a major news conference. A DA supervisor asked Chung to leave and he did so. Two days later, three DA investigators served Chung with a notice of paid leave and walked him out of his office. After an investigation, Rosen fired Chung over the VTA incident.
Chung appealed the firing. An arbitrator’s decision criticized Chung for “swerving” into Rosen’s lane with a “subconscious desire to gain personal advantage from the situation.” But the decision also rejected many of Rosen’s allegations and ordered Chung to be reinstated. Rosen resisted – refusing to provide Chung with work assignments. Chung was also barred from attending training programs and conferences.
He later lost a challenge to Rosen’s reelection in June 2022, where the campaign trail saw a dust-up when Chung accused Rosen of tripping him.
In April 2023, Chung paid out of his own pocket for a three-day, in-person California District Attorneys Association training in San Diego without the DA’s permission. Rosen terminated him over the attendance in November, which Chung appealed – leading to the latest decision reinstating him.
McManis said Rosen is trying to keep Chung’s civil rights lawsuit away from a jury.
“When we win this case, and I expect to win, not only will the county have spent all this money paying for Rosen’s defense – they’re going to pay us attorney fees,” he said.
This story was written by Brandon Pho for San Jose Spotlight. The original version of this article can be viewed here.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X.
