A San Jose resident is taking Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen to court, accusing him of wasting public money by paying a prosecutor to stay home while warning residents about looming budget carnage. The taxpayer lawsuit, filed March 25, 2026, asks a judge to order that Deputy District Attorney Daniel Chung be put back on active duty instead of collecting a paycheck from his couch. The complaint argues those payments are an avoidable drain on a department Rosen himself has said is facing an unprecedented shortfall.
Complaint Details The Payroll And Legal Bills
Attorney Jim McManis filed the suit on behalf of San Jose resident Sarah Scofield, 63. The complaint says Rosen has told Chung to remain offsite while continuing biweekly paychecks of $8,525, and that Rosen paid Chung about $314,596 between 2022 and 2025. On top of that, the filing flags roughly $450,000 in outside legal fees the county reportedly spent defending Rosen's personnel decisions. Those numbers come from reporting in the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Years Of Internal Feuding In The DA's Office
The lawsuit is the latest twist in a feud inside the DA's office that has dragged on for years. It traces back to 2021, when Chung published opinion pieces critical of certain criminal justice reforms and was disciplined by the office. Since then he has been suspended, then fired over separate incidents, only to have arbitrators and the county Personnel Board reduce or reverse punishments and order him reinstated, most recently in mid 2025. That back and forth has been chronicled by San José Spotlight.
Budget Squeeze Puts Spotlight On Spending
All of this is playing out as Rosen warns that countywide budget shortfalls could force major cuts to prosecutions and programs, with the hole pegged in the hundreds of millions of dollars. A news release from the Office of the District Attorney frames the scenario as a threat to basic public safety, and coverage from KQED notes Rosen's warning that cuts could force his office to stop prosecuting tens of thousands of misdemeanors.
What The Suit Wants A Judge To Do
Scofield's complaint asks the court for an order requiring Rosen and the county to let Chung return to an active assignment. It argues that keeping him on paid leave with no work assignment will continue to waste public funds and cause the taxpayers of Santa Clara County to suffer irreparable injury. The suit portrays the arrangement as political retaliation that carries a real price tag in county payroll and outside counsel costs, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Legal Backdrop To A Messy Workplace Fight
Chung has already taken Rosen to court in earlier rounds of this fight, which has generated arbitration rulings and federal filings. The Ninth Circuit docket shows an appeal tied to prior disciplinary litigation that was still active into 2026. Taxpayer suits like Scofield's are a specific legal vehicle that let residents challenge alleged misuse of public funds and seek injunctive relief that can change how local officials assign work and spend county money. Details of the federal appeal appear in the docket on Justia Dockets, and earlier chapters of the dispute have been covered by Palo Alto Online.
Politics, The Ballot, And What Comes Next
The timing adds extra heat. Chung is again listed as a candidate for district attorney on the county's June 2 primary ballot, according to Santa Clara County records, which means the lawsuit is landing right in the middle of campaign season. Local reporting, including coverage from San José Spotlight, indicates Rosen's office has previously declined to offer extended public comment on the Chung saga, saying personnel matters and pending litigation are being handled through established channels. The new case is filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court and will now move on whatever schedule the court sets under local procedural rules.
