The Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) has filed a lawsuit against Rebecca Eisenberg and Does 1 through 10, in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara. The case ID is 24CV436448 and was filed on April 22, 2024. The complaint includes charges of conversion, trespass to chattels, breach of fiduciary duty, and declaratory relief.
Represented by Nossaman LLP's John T. Kennedy and Alexander Westerfield, as well as J. Carlos Orellana and Brian C. Hopper from the Office of District Counsel, Valley Water alleges that Eisenberg, an elected member of their Board of Directors who resides in Santa Clara County, has been censured for actions that have given rise to this complaint. Furthermore, it is believed that Does 1 through 10 are residents of California who have received unlawfully converted documents described in the complaint.
Valley Water seeks damages for Eisenberg's alleged abrasive behavior which they claim has resulted in multiple formal and informal complaints from members of Valley Water’s leadership and staff. These complaints accuse Eisenberg of creating a hostile work environment through discriminatory statements and unprofessional conduct.
The complaint also alleges Eisenberg's theft of a confidential report initially made available in a secured conference room for review by the water district members. The defendant also made paraphrased posts of the confidential report on social media potentially creating a chilling effect on those who testified in the investigative report and were entitled to discretion and confidentiality, a breach of the defendants fiduciary responsibility.