The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $5 million settlement with a Michigan software company owner who was charged with mishandling personal information of county poll workers, but had the charges dropped amid allegations they were prompted by election conspiracy theorists.
Eugene Yu, the CEO of Konnech Corp., sued the county and District Attorney George Gascón last year, alleging civil rights violations and negligence. The board approved the settlement Tuesday without comment.
Yu was arrested in October 2022 for alleged theft of poll workers’ personal information, with Gascón publicly contending Yu’s company was storing worker data on computer servers in the People’s Republic of China.
The filing of the charges was hailed by many election deniers — including former President Donald Trump — who said it offered proof the company was conspiring with China to alter the results of U.S. elections.
The charges, however, were dismissed about a month later, amid revelations that the D.A. probe was initiated by a tip from the leader of a Texas-based organization named True the Vote, which pushed unfounded conspiracy theories alleging fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Konnech distributes and sells its proprietary PollChief software, which is an election worker management system that was used by the county in the 2020 election. The software, which assists with poll worker assignments, communications and payroll, requires workers to submit personal identifying information, which is retained by Konnech.
Despite the criminal case filed against Yu, the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office never severed ties with Konnech, with a spokesman for the office telling the Los Angeles Times it had not received any evidence that any workers’ personal information had been compromised.
The lawsuit by Yu and Konnech contends the criminal case cost the company millions of dollars and led to Yu and his family being repeatedly threatened with violence. The suit argues that the district attorney relied on “utterly false conspiracy theories” to justify the criminal case. The suit also contends that Konnech’s software is used across the country for the sole purpose of scheduling polling place workers — not tabulating votes — and thus has no impact on election outcomes.
In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, County Counsel Dawyn Harrison wrote that the county has been “engaged in substantial settlement negotiations” with Yu and Konnech, and the parties have agreed to resolve the matter for $5 million. According to Harrison, the county has incurred legal costs topping $673,000 on the case so far.
“Given the risks and uncertainties of litigation, a fair and reasonable settlement at this time will avoid further litigation costs, therefore, full and final settlement of this matter is warranted,” Harrison wrote.