Santa Clara water agency wins lawsuit against its director

Santa Clara Valley Water District has won its lawsuit against one of its directors who took thousands of pages of internal documents.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Ellen E. Williams has ordered Valley Water Director Rebecca Eisenberg to return a roughly 2,000-page report to Valley Water officials within five days. The report was the product of an investigation into allegations about Eisenberg’s behavior. She was censured and stripped of some of her responsibilities by her board colleagues for removing the documents without permission from the agency’s office.

Eisenberg declined to comment on the order to return the documents, but said the lawsuit has been used to defame her as well as distract from other pressing issues facing Valley Water, such as the Pacheco Dam project. The project’s cost estimate rose to about $5.5 billion in February and Eisenberg has questioned whether the project’s costs are being misrepresented.

“I am going to tough it out to help bring justice to the community,” Eisenberg told San José Spotlight. “This lawsuit is a red herring, it is a distraction.”

Eisenberg added that as a director, she is entitled to review the report, just not share its contents with anyone. Eisenberg said she has not discussed or publicized any of the report’s contents, which was an assurance she signed under oath.

“This lawsuit is an intentional abuse of ratepayer funds,” she said. “They are suing me for a risk that doesn’t exist. It is an irrational risk that I would share these (documents). There is no evidence to support it and they know that. They just don’t want me to have these documents.”

Valley Water spokesperson Matt Keller told San José Spotlight that the agency is “prepared to take all appropriate measures to enforce the order and protect its employees.” So far, he said the agency has paid $143,694 pursuing this lawsuit, in addition to the $587,497 spent on the probe against her.

Valley Water Board Chair Nai Hsueh told San José Spotlight the directors are pleased with the judges ruling.

“Valley Water is looking forward to moving on and continuing to do the important water supply, flood protection and environmental work for the community,” Hsueh said.

The ongoing controversy comes two months after San José Spotlight first reported that Eisenberg took the documents from Valley Water’s San Jose office. Investigators substantiated nine out of 25 total complaints accusing Eisenberg of harassing or offensive conduct from CEO Rick Callender, district counsel Carlos Orellana and other employees.

Eisenberg ruffled feathers on the water board almost immediately after unseating her predecessor Gary Kremen in November 2022, who faced allegations of his own that included workplace bullying. Eisenberg blasted Valley Water for failing to hold Kremen accountable and make changes after an investigation found Kremen violated district policies when he bullied, verbally assaulted and threatened district workers.

In early 2023, Valley Water officials said they received numerous workplace complaints accusing Eisenberg of gender discrimination and making inappropriate comments. Documents obtained by San José Spotlight alleged Eisenberg blamed the region’s infrastructure issues — such as flooding — on men who “love to build things” using concrete.

The agency’s expensive investigation was made public in February. It also details an incident in June last year, where Eisenberg told Board Chair Nai Hsueh that “English isn’t your first language so I want to make sure you understand.” The comment came after Hsueh told Eisenberg she didn’t know what the Latin term ad hominem meant, which “shocked” Eisenberg.

Eisenberg told investigators she was not demeaning Hsueh on the basis of race or national origin, but instead was “accommodating (Hsueh’s) language barrier,” the report said.

Eisenberg also leveled eight accusations of discrimination, harassment, abusive conduct or retaliation against Callender, Orellana and the district, though the agency’s hired investigators determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support her claims.

Eisenberg said the investigation is just retaliation by Callender and Orellana in response to concerns she raised about sexism at the agency.

The board of directors, including Eisenberg, was allowed to view 2,000 confidential pages related to the investigation — including supporting documents and interviews with employees — in a secure room near the Valley Water clerk’s office. Members could not take photos or copies of the sensitive materials, and were told the documents couldn’t leave the room.

Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.