CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES RES, DARD OF suPERVISORS 4 cowvorwsancuss TO PERSON OR PROPERTY (23302) (280008 Y |COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES INSTRUCTIONS: FILED Read claim thoroughly. Fal out cai a8 indicated, aach atonal infomation i necessary. 20 APR IT A 54 Please use one clam fom foreach claimant tun tis orignal signed claim and any attachments “supporting your claim. This form must be signed DELIVER OR U.S, MAlL TO: EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, ATTENTION: CLAIMS 500 WEST TEMPLE STREET, ROOM 353, KENNETH HAHN HALL OF ADMINISTRATION, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 (13) 974-1440 BROROF ee exc SEE ATTACHED. GIO ATTORNEY 10803 Foothil Blvd. Suite 112 Rancho Cucamonga cA 91730 (844) 908-1033 CIO ATTORNEY 10803 Foothil Blvd. Suite 112 ‘SET ‘ar SATE BP OE Rancho Cucamonga CA 91730 SamnnoTercoen, FTES CFA COCTY EURCOVEES OTHE DEPORTE “arz024 8:30 am BHOLED A IuRY Ox BALASE GF POCA TERE DD BMUIGEOR HURT OCCA TERRIER 210 W. Temple Street, 12h Floor SEE ATTACHED, Los Angeles cA goota SEE ATTACHED. ‘DERE W BTC HOW BRMGE DA WARY SOSIRRED TOUT ORAGES | WOMERED TO USES OUR TT A PERE SEE ATTACHED. = ce ‘SEE ATTACHED. TE PORE a a SS ‘creoK Fura com. cose[—] STREET SRE POE TOTALOAMAGES TODATE _TOTALESTINATED PROSPECTIVE DAMAGES BE RT TT TST FE 41,000,000.00 4.10,000,000.00 ee a SE arcane THIS CLAIM MUST BE SIGNED NOTE: PRESENTATION OF A FALSE CLAIM IS A FELONY (PENAL CODE SECTION 72) ‘CLAIMS FOR DEAT, INJURY TO PERSON OR TO PERSONAL PROPERTY MUGT BE FILED NOT LATER THAN € MONTHS AFTER THE OCOURRENCE, (GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 911.2) ALL OTHER CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES MUST BE FILED NOT LATER THAN ONE YEAR AFTER THE OCCURRENCE, (GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 241.2) 1 PRNT OR TYPE WANE om FE Be OF CANT ENT OWTSTER TE Tom Yu osst712028 Tom Gu oar7r2024a LAW OFFICES OF TOM YU ‘APROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 10803 Foothill Bivd., Ste 112 T: 844-9981033 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 F: 909-801-7004 April 17, 2024 Executive Officer, Board of Supervisors: Attention: CLAIMS 500 West Temple Steet, Room 383- Hall of Administration Los Angeles, California 90012 213-974-1440 RE: GOVERNMENTAL TORT CLAIM FOR DAMAGES Dear Sir or Madam: Please consider this a notice of governmental tort claim and to the extent any such claims are more than six months old, as an application for a late claim pursuant to Government Code section 911.4. If you contend this is not the proper location for a governmental claim, please advise of the proper location. Further, if you contend there are any administrative claims or remedies not pursued by the claimant, please advise us so that we can fulfill any administrative remedies requirements forthwith. 1, NAME AND ADDRESS OF CLAIMANT MR. ERIC NEFF, Claimant C/O Tom Yu, Esq. LAW OFFICES OF TOM YU, APC 10803 Foothill Blvd., Suite 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 844-998-1033 [email protected]Page 2 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff 2. DATE, TIME, & PLACE OF INJURY OR DAMAGE On or about April 4, 2024, to present. 3. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DAMAGES, INJURY OR LOSS Mr. Eric Neff was hired by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office (“DA’s Office”) in 2015. In July 2020, Mr. Neff was transferred to the Public Integrity Division (“PID”) as a Grade II Deputy District Attorney (“DDA”). The PID handles cases of political corruption in Los Angeles County, making it one of the most high-profile and prestigious assignments in the DA’s office. At the time of the transfer, Mr. Neff was one of if not the only Grade I DDAs to be assigned to PID, and one of, if not the only DDA to be assigned to this unit at such an early stage of his career. While assigned to PID, Mr. Neff was promoted to DDA Grade Tl. In PID, the chain of command for Mr. Neff was: - Bjorn Dodd, Assistant Head Deputy. - Sean Hassett, Head Deputy. - Mare Beaart, Director. - James “Jamie” Garrison, Assistant District Attorney. - Sharon Woo, Chief Deputy District Attorney. In or about October 2020, Mr. Eugene Yu (“Mr. Yu”), who owned and operated Konnech Inc. (“Konnech”), a Michigan-based company, submitted a sole-source contract for the software services of “PollChief” with the County of Los Angeles (“County” or “Los Angeles County”). According to the contract between Konnech Ine. and the County, “PollChief” was asserted to be a “high-performance election management software that organizes the administration of elections.” The contract was for a maximum of $2,909,500 over five years, which was a significant increase over the previous $200,000 contract also with Konnech, 10803 Foothill Bivd., Ste 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 T: 844-998-1033 | F: 909-801-7004 wwww.tomyulaw.comPage 3 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff Mr. Yu, through Konnech, provided this service to Los Angeles under a contract worth millions of dollars in 2020. As part of this contract, Konnech was entrusted with sensitive and confidential information regarding County election workers, known as Personal Identifying Information (“PII”), and Konnech was subject to strict contractual requirements governing its safeguarding. The requirements were well known by Konnech even before seeking the contract, as they are governed by longstanding federal and local laws and regulations. Konnech, a longtime player in this relatively niche field, had many other such contracts around the country with the same requirements at the time of pursuing the Los Angeles County contract. Despite its representations, Konnech misled Los Angeles County into believing that Konnech had implemented security procedures to safeguard PII, which formed the basis for the eventual prosecution of Mr. Yu. The essence of Mr. Yu's crime was that while his company was supposed to provide software that allows election staff to manage election workers, the representations that Mr. Yu made to secure the contract were all false. In fact, District Attomey George Gascén (“Mr. Gascon” or “DA Gascon”) alleged evidence that showed Konnech used third-party contractors based in China and failed to abide by security procedures to protect such data, all contrary to Konnech’s representations in its agreement with the County. In or about June 2020, Mr. Neff and his investigator, Senior District Attorney Investigator Andrew Stevens (“Mr. Stevens”) received information that Konnech’s “PollChief” phone application, which organizes poll worker logistics, has its data sources “resolve” to a Chinese IP address. This violates even the most basic standards of cybersecurity for any U.S. commercial enterprise, let alone something as sensitive to national security as poll worker information. Based on the forensic “photograph” of Konnech’s web servers that placed the servers in China, Mr. Neff began gathering evidence against Mr. Yu for the crimes committed. 10803 Foothill Biv, Ste 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 1:8 133 | F: 909-801-7004Page 4 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff On or about October 4, 2022, District Attorney Investigators (“DAIs”) executed a search warrant at Mr. Yu’s company headquarters in Michigan, and Mr. Yu was arrested. His computer servers were confiscated, copies of which are still required to remain in the DAI’s custody. DAls recovered several explosive pieces of evidence in the form of electronic communications as well as one cooperating witness — an employee with knowledge of the company’s facially inadequate practices and procedures. It was immediately clear that Konnech’s deception of LA County with regard to its practices with poll worker information was even worse than initially feared. Konnech was sending sensitive PII data to Chinese- owned and operated third-party contractors through Chinese-owned and operated messaging applications. After a couple of days of extradition-related litigation in Michigan court, Mr. Yu was ordered to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court by October 14, 2022. District Attorney Gascén gave a press conference, proudly touting the achievement. On October 6, 2022, former President Trump retweeted a post from the Washington Examiner concerning the matter, wrongly connecting it to voting fraud, and lauding District Attorney Gascén. President Trump exclaimed, “Go, George, Go!” From this point onward, despite the evidence of the criminal case against Mr. Yu, DA Gascon and President Trump are connected which is devasting to DA Gascon’s political career. Between October 6, 2022, to October 12, 2022, Mr. Neff’s entire chain of command from the DA’s Office ~ no less than four management-level prosecutors thoroughly reviewed the investigation and evidence against Mr. Yu. Ultimately, this case was reviewed by the highest ranking non-elected prosecutor in the office, Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo ~ who approved the filing of a criminal complaint against Mr. Yu. On October 13, 2022, the DA’s Office filed a felony complaint against Mr. Yu. 10803 Foothill Bivd,, Ste 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 T: 844-998-1033 | F: 909-801-7004 wnww.tomyulaw.comPage 5 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff On or about October 17, 2022, DA Gascon was overwhelmingly concerned that since he had inadvertently gained Mr. Trump’s (and the far-right wing, election deniers) support, the outlook of such support by prosecuting Mr. Yu would impact his stance and popularity politically. As such, Mr. Gascon, through his subordinate chain-of-command (Ms. Tiffiny Blacknell, Ms. Sharon Woo, and Mr. Joseph Iniquez), ordered Mr. Neff to be second chair and tasked DDA III Luke Sisak (“Mr. Sisak”) from Cyber Crimes to supervise Mr. Neff in the prosecution of Mr. Yu. After Mr. Sisak was assigned to supervise Mr. Neff'in this prosecution, Mr. Sisak became the first level of supervision in the chain of command before Mr. Bjorn Dodd. Following Mr. Sisak becoming Mr. Neff’s supervisor on the prosecution of Mr. Yu, Mr. Sisak appeared in court and was informed that Mr. Yu’s defense counsel calendared a demurrer hearing date for November 10, 2022. Thereafter, Mr. Sisak instructed Mr. Neff to draft an opposition to the demurrer, which Mr. Sisak would review for filing. The draft — which pointed out the many facial legal and factual problems with Mr. Yu’s demurrer motion and forcefully argued for its denial — was filed by the DA’s office almost exactly as Mr. Neff drafted it. On November 10, 2022, prior to the demurrer hearing in court, Mr. Sisak met with Mr. Neff and informed him that management from the DA’s Office had ordered the case to be dismissed. Neff verbally complained to Mr. Sisak that there was no legal basis for the dismissal and that no one informed him of the dismissal prior to that morning. More importantly, Mr. Neff objected to the dismissal because he had reasonable cause to believe that his participation in the dismissal was against the law. It was a politically based dismissal not in furtherance of justice. 710803 Foothill Bld,, Ste 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 T: 844-998-1033 | F: 909-801-7004 www. tomyulaw.comPage 6 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff In objecting and complaining about the unlawful dismissal, Mr. Neff had reasonable cause to believe that: 1. The unlawful dismissal would run afoul of Penal Code section 1386, which provides that once a prosecution has been initiated, “neither the Attorney General nor the district attorney can discontinue or abandon a prosecution for a public offense” without permission of the Court. 2. In addition, while the scope of prosecutorial discretion is broad, a DDA must perform certain ministerial and mandatory duties in exercising its discretion. Under Government Code section 26500, “The district attorney is the public prosecutor, except as otherwise provided by law. The public prosecutor shall attend the courts, and within his or her discretion shall initiate and conduct on behalf of the people all prosecutions for public offenses.” 3. The motivating reasons for the dismissal of Mr. Yu's prosecution were for Mr. Gascon’s political gain. This made the dismissal self-serving and not in furtherance of justice, as required by Penal Code section 1385(a). There would be a fraud upon the court (violation of Califomia Prof. Rule of Conduct, rule 3.3 and rule 3.8) for the representation and misrepresentation of the real reasons behind the dismissal because it was politically motivated and the reasons for such dismissal must be reflected in the court’s minute orders. Clearly, any kind of representation would be a misrepresentation of the real reason why this case is being dismissed. Mr. Neff believed that Mr. Sisak was a person with the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the legal violations. Ultimately, Mr. Gascon (through his subordinate chain of command), ordered Assistant Head Deputy Bjorn Dodd to appear in court to dismiss this case. 10803 Foothill Blvd., Ste 112, ‘ancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 84 133 | F: 909-801-7004 www.tomyulaw.comPage 7 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff On or about November 14, 2022, after the holiday weekend, Mr. Neff reduced the complaints in writing to Mr. Sisak, Sean Hasset, and Mare Beaart. Mr. Neff complained that the dismissal was politically motivated and objected to Mr. Gascon’s decision to dismiss this case becauise a prosecutor cannot use political gains as a basis for dismissing a prosecution of a criminal matter. The dismissal, under California law, must be in furtherance of justice. On November 16, 2022, Mr. Neff was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. As a result of the investigation, there was no evidence that Mr. Neff committed any misconduct. On or about March 20, 2024, Mr. Neff was informed that the investigation was completed and that no disciplinary actions would be taken against him. On April 4, 2024, Mr. Neff was reinstated back to work. However, in retaliation to the complaints he made concerning the unlawful dismissal of Mr. Yu's prosecution, DA Gascon removed Mr. Neff from his position prosecuting political corruption to a much less desirable assignment of Welfare Fraud Unit, an assignment commonly known in the DA’s Office to punish prosecutors where DDAs are not favored by management. The removal of Mr. Neff from PID to the Welfare Fraud Unit constituted retaliation for his protected activities described above. The removal of Mr. Neff from PID to the Welfare Fraud Unit was an adverse employment action because it was detrimental to Mr. Neff’s career, changed the terms and conditions of Mr. Neff’s employment with the DA’s Office, and materially impaired Mr. Neff’s job performance, prospects for advancement to DDA Grade IV, or other promotions. If Mr. Neff had not adamantly complained about the unlawful dismissal of Mr. Yu's prosecution, DA Gascon would not have taken the adverse employment action against him. The removal of Mr. Neff from PID because he engaged in the protected activities as described above was a tacit demotion to a less prestigious and desirable position within the DA’s Office. 70803 Foothill Bivd., Ste 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 T: 844-998-1033 | F: 909-801-7004 wnwew.tomyulaw.comPage 8 April 17, 2024 Governmental Tort Claim Mr. Eric Neff Mr. Neff alleges that the wrongful conduct set forth in this claim has caused him to suffer economic damages, lost wages, and benefits, as well as emotional distress, including loss of sleep, loss of self-esteem and confidence, and reputational harm. If the County contends there are any administrative claims or remedies not pursued by Mr. Neff, please advise forthwith so we can fulfill the administrative remedies now. 4. NAMES OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES CAUSING INJURY GEORGE GASCON TIFFINY BLACKNELL SHARON WOO JOSEPH INIQUEZ 5. AMOUNT CLAIMED Pursuant to Government Code section 910(f), the amount of compensatory and other damages claims exceeds $10,000 and will lie within the unlimited jurisdiction of the superior court. Mr. Neffalso claims and seeks to recover herein, the statutory and other penalties, damages, attorney's fees, expert fees, and costs as. provided by law. DATED: 04-17-2024 LAW OFFICES OF TOM YU, APC By: on ERIC NEFF Tom Yu, Esq. i Attorney for ae, 70803 Foothill Bivd,, Ste 112 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91790 T: 844-998-1033 | F: 909-801-7004 www.tomyulaw.com