Alameda County's former chief of inspectors in the D.A.'s office, who was fired by District Attorney Pamela Price almost immediately after she took office, is suing the county government, saying his termination was driven by Price's alleged anti-Asian racial bigotry and her alleged explicit desire to illegally hire and promote unqualified black staffers within her office.
On Oct. 31, Craig Chew filed suit against in Alameda County Superior Court, leveling claims of unlawful employment racial discrimination under California state law against the county of Alameda.
According to the complaint, Chew had served for the past 22 years as an inspector through the Alameda District Attorney's office, working his way up the ranks as a lieutenant, captain and assistant chief. In 2021, he was promoted to the role of chief of inspectors.
Before working for the district attorney, Chew had served since the late 1980s as a police officer in the cities of Oakland, Berkely and Moraga. According to his lawsuit, Chew "served with distinction as a police officer, reportedly surviving "various life-threatening incidents in the line of duty, including being shot five times (with two bullets lodged in him to this day), and dodging a machete attack." (Parentheses in original.)
However, Chew said he was quickly fired shortly after Price took office in January 2023.
According to the complaint, Chew asserts he met with Price between her election in November 2022 and taking office, at which time Price allegedly told him she wished to "rapidly hire two new African-American Inspectors."
Chew allegedly told Price this was not possible on her desired timetable, saying the "detailed and heavily-regulated background check process, mandated by California law" did not allow such rapid hires. He allegedly also informed her California law requires such inspectors to be sworn "peace officers," which required "vetting and clearing."
According to the complaint, Chew and Price also allegedly clashed over Price's alleged desire to share "confidential and highly-sensitive items relating to particular cases" with representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has famously advocated on behalf of defendants facing criminal charges and against law enforcement.
Chew allegedly told Price such information sharing with a likely potential opponent in court "would be problematic."
"These seemingly innocuous topics quickly became a flashpoint which led to Price firing Plaintiff just a few days after she took office," Chew said in the complaint.
Price, who is female and black, was elected in 2022 on a left-wing platform, as a progressive prosecutor seeking reforms desired by anti-police and Black Lives Matter activists in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
According to the complaint, Price allegedly "has repeatedly demonstrated stereotypical thinking in regard to race," and particularly against Asians.
The complaint cites comments from others, including Price's former public information officer, Patti Lee, who similarly accused Price in court of firing her allegedly because she is Asian.
In that filing, Lee noted she would "frequently hear derogatory comments about her race made by supervisory employees," including Price, who allegedly "would constantly and openly make derogatory remarks against Asian Americans."
In her filing, Lee alleged that "Price had a racial animus toward peopel of East Asian Descent," including asserting Price saw Asians as "her enemies."
Chew also pointed to statements made by other Alameda County District Attorney staffers who also accused Price of being "condescending and disrespectful" to Asians, or allowing other high ranking staffers to similarly make "racist comments" toward Asians and Pacific Islanders, making "personnel decisions based solely on race," and having "discounted cases based on race."
Chew also asserted Price has been driven by a desire to hire and promote black staff and employees, often regardless of heir qualifications or eligibility for certain leadership positions.
Chew noted he was replaced by Eric Lewis, who is black, "despite his having no experience whatsoever working at any level in any District Attorney's Office, and despite his having been found to have committed misconduct at the Oakland Police Department, including regarding lack of truthfulness in testimony." Chew also asserted Lewis had been "previously disqualified" for "submitting someone else's warrant as his own as part of his job application."
Chew asserted Lewis had been hired through a "highly dubious bizarre arrangement," which he said was "likely illegal," through a temporary staffing vendor, identified as Tryfacta.
Chew noted Price has also "installed her second in command, Chief Assistant District Attorney Otis Bruce," who is also black, even though an investigation in Marin County found he had "committed numerous improper acts, including at least 15 violations of Marin County policies, including those relating to racial bias, gender bias, family status bias, and abuse of authority."
Chew noted that a former Alameda County prosecutor, identified as Butch Ford, who the complaint says has a racial identity of half-black and half-Pacific Islander, also accused Price of explicitly pro-black racial discrimination. Chew pointed to Ford's resignation letter, in which he allegedly said to Price: "Your administration has demoted almost every Caucasian male in the office and stated, 'The Blacks are taking over.'"
According to the complaint, Price's alleged animus against Asians and in favor of black staffers allegedly led her to conclude that Chew "couldn't be trusted and wasn't loyal," leading her to fire him.
Chew further asserted he was mistreated even in the process of his termination, as he said he said Lewis and others in the office, and even members of the media, were informed of his firing and Lewis' hiring before Chew was; the county did not commend or properly recognize him for more than two decades of service; and Price even accused him of improperly stealing and retaining county property, even to the point of sending deputies to his home late at night and threatening him with arrest.
Chew said the county is also liable for allegedly allowing Price to fire him out of alleged racial prejudice, and to allow her to elevate Lewis to replace him, when the actions should have resulted in an investigation, he said.
"It was literally impossible for Human Resources and County Counsel to be unable to connect the dots...," Chew said in his complaint. "Had the County acted properly, it would have immediately opened an investigation into Plaintiff's termination, and the related aspect of the hiring of Lewis, an investigation that unmistakable and inevitably would have involved obvious racial components.
"... It is important to state that a District Attorney's Office is not like most workplaces. As is obvious, it does critically important work in the criminal justice system, where grave issues such as community safety, and individual liberty, are at stake every hour of every day.
"Who is hired matters. Merit matters. Proper backgrounding of employees matters. Precise handling of confidential information matters. Abiding by the law matters. When any of these principles are thrown out the window, let alone all of them as in the present case, the consequences potentially are enormous."
Chew is represented in the action by attorney Jon T. King, of Walnut Creek.