The man who serves as Deschutes County’s legal counsel is suing Deschutes County District Attorney, Patrick Flaherty. The filing represents just the latest challenge for for the embattled DA.

One of Patrick Flaherty’s first official actions when he took office just over a year ago, was to let go a number of deputy district attorneys from his office. 

In an attempt to protect their jobs, the deputies voted to form a union.   In a letter dated weeks after he took office, the DA questioned the legality of negotiations that had taken place between the county and that union. 

Now the county legal counsel Mark Pilliod has filed a lawsuit focusing on that letter.

The suit alleges  Flaherty’s letter made public false statements about Pilliod’s professional conduct.  The suit also faults Flaherty for conducting what it calls a “spurious” grand jury investigation of Pilliod a month later.  

Flaherty’s own conduct is now the subject of investigations by both the Oregon State Bar and State Police.  The DA is also facing a separate lawsuit brought by the attorneys he dismissed after taking office. 

Calls to the DA’s office were not returned.

This story originally appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.