A former spokesperson for Pamela Price, a Soros-backed district attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, is suing her past employer alleging that the prosecutor’s office perpetuated anti-Asian racism and deleted public records to avoid media scrutiny.
Patti Lee, who previously worked as a public information officer for Price’s office, alleges that she “experienced a clear anti-Asian sentiment” in Price’s office and that the top prosecutor chose “to hide, delete and change” public records to avoid complying with lawful requests, according to a court filing. The lawsuit claims that Lee was terminated because she is of Asian descent and because she refused to endorse the release of altered public records.
“I have never been subjected to such humiliating and bullying behavior in a workplace,” Lee said in a statement. “It is unacceptable in any professional environment, but when the perpetrator is a public official who claims to be a civil rights advocate, it is unconscionable.” (RELATED: Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price Faces Recall Vote After Crime Ravages Blue County)
Price allegedly told Lee “that her enemies were ‘the media and the Asians,'” according to the lawsuit. Lee alleges that Price would make comments accusing her of leaking information to Asian American activists pushing to get her out of office and the press.
A spokesperson for the Alameda County district attorney office told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it “cannot comment on litigation regarding personnel matters.”
Price’s 2018 district attorney campaign received $700,000 from the California Justice and Public Safety PAC, a committee funded almost entirely by George Soros. Though Price lost in 2018, her 2022 run for district attorney was successful and she took office in 2023.
In honor of #PrideMonth, DA Pamela Price is proud to highlight Victim Witness Advocate Arianna Salinas.
In an interview with Telemundo, Arianna shared her journey as the first transgender woman in the Victim Witness Assistance Division.
#TransVisibility #DAPamelaPrice pic.twitter.com/l8Ncxke1vb— AlCo DA’s Office (@AlamedaCountyDA) June 13, 2024
Price faced backlash from Oakland’s Asian community over concerns she would not prosecute two men charged in the 2021 killing of a two-year-old Chinese American boy, according to the San Francisco Standard. Price went on to reduce the severity of the charges by removing the possibility of them being sentenced to life without parole in June 2023, to the dismay of the slain child’s family, a local NBC affiliate reported.
Price now faces a recall effort, with local activists claiming that her approach to criminal justice favors criminals over victims, which has contributed to an uptick in crime. Violent crime increased by 21% in Oakland, the largest city in Alameda County, during the first ten months of Price’s term as district attorney, per police data.
Price’s office has also been reluctant to release data on its prosecutorial practices, rebuffing efforts from the San Francisco Chronicle to obtain records on what crimes are, and aren’t, leading to criminal charges.
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