SANTA ANA, CA – An Orange County employee has filed a lawsuit that claims fellow workers inappropriately tapped a group of restricted federal funds and local public safety taxes to help take the sting out of the county’s 1994 bankruptcy, according to the Associated Press as reported by the Mercury News. Barry Adams, who headed the county’s vehicle fleet from 1995 to 2002, said that his superiors allegedly targeted him when he raised the issue of misuse and then helped the Sheriff’s Department trace how their accounts were being improperly charged. Adams’ lawsuit seeks damages for loss of income and retirement benefits after being placed on administrative leave in Feb. 2002. Adams suffers from a terminal lung disease. Adams’ allegations include several misuses, such as the use of federal flood-control funds to purchase a Lincoln Town Car for a county supervisor in 2000 instead of for a surveyor, the report said.