Valley Water CEO Rick Callender sexually harassed employees, investigation finds

Rick Callender, the CEO of Silicon Valley’s largest water agency, sexually harassed two female employees over multiple years, a report released Tuesday concluded, including sending inappropriate photos, making comments about his own sexual or romantic activities, and pressuring them for after-hours activities, including coming to his house to water his plants and attending Sharks games with him.

Callender, who has led the Santa Clara Valley Water District since 2020 and serves as president of the California-Hawaii NAACP State Conference, announced Friday that he would leave his $520,000-a-year post March 1. He had been on paid administrative leave since December 2024, when the allegations first surfaced.

Under a separation agreement approved by a vote of 6-1 Friday by the district’s elected board, he will remain on the public payroll for another year with the same salary and benefits, this time as an adviser to board chair Tony Estremera.

The district’s board, following a closed session meeting on Tuesday, released a 30-page executive summary of a 10-month-long investigation completed last September by Cerritos-based law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo.

The firm interviewed dozens of witnesses, Callender and three women who filed complaints against him alleging misconduct.

“Callender engaged in severe or pervasive conduct that violated the District’s prohibition on sexual harassment,” the report concluded.

Callender, 55, sent the district a written response to the report on Dec. 16. The board also released it Tuesday. In it, his attorney, Lori Costanzo of San Jose, said he denied all the allegations, called the investigation flawed, and threatened to sue the district, a government agency that provides drinking water and flood control to 2 million residents in Santa Clara County.

“Many of the accusations which are levied rely on clear racial animus and stereotypical images of African American men,” Costanzo wrote. “Mr. Callender’s actions have at all times been consistent with applicable laws, Valley Water policies, and ethical standards.”

The outside law firm said he was uncooperative.

“Callender frequently gave evasive, argumentative, and sarcastic answers,” the investigative report noted. “Combined with explanations of certain incidents that defied reasonable interpretation and a refusal to acknowledge any inappropriateness of his behavior, we found his credibility suspect.”

The union representing many of the agency’s 880 employees blasted the board on Tuesday.

“This is a sweetheart deal,” said Salam Baqleh, vice president of the Valley Water Employees Association. “Instead of protecting our members, the board has knowingly decided to employ Rick Callender for another year in a higher-level position at a staggering salary. Our union is deeply offended by this action.”

Estremera, the board chairman, said nothing about the issue at the agency’s meeting Tuesday.

In an interview Friday, he said the settlement agreement with Callender was designed to save the district and its ratepayers money over the long term.

“You can have everybody suing everybody instead of providing services to the public,” Estremera said. “We have to balance that out. Do we want to spend the next five years in litigation as part of these varying disputes? We’ve always tried find a balance.”

Three women made complaints, beginning in October 2024. Their names and those of witnesses were redacted from the report released Tuesday.

The first, who worked closely with Callender, accused him of sexual harassment, abusive conduct and creating a hostile work environment, among other things. She said in person, in texts and Facebook Messenger messages, he made inappropriate comments about the sexual or romantic activities of the woman and other district employees; about the appearance of their coworkers; about his own sexual and romantic activities; and made comments insinuating sexual interest with her, despite the fact he knew she was in a long-term relationship.

In one case, he sent her a photo of his clothed lap, focusing on his crotch. In April 2020, he said they should get married because she did not communicate with him. He also sent her photos of other women whom he flirted with or who he said flirted with him, the report found. In one instance, he asked if she had ever “been with” an African American man and spoke about his own personal life and exploits.

On July 25, 2023, Callender asked the woman, who he supervised, to water his tomato plants at his home while he went on vacation. When she said yes, he hugged her, making her uncomfortable. After he returned from vacation, the report found, she went to revoke the electronic key app to get into his house, but Callender stated he would continue her access because “you never know.”

The investigators said although the woman waited a long time to report the activity and at times appeared to play along with it, most of the allegations were credible, because she was worried about losing her job.

The second woman who filed the complaint did not work directly for Callender. Nevertheless, from Spring 2023 to November 2024, he repeatedly pressured her to attend San Jose Sharks games with him, even though she said she wasn’t interested, and made inappropriate comments and sent texts.

In one instance, at 10:12 p.m., he texted her, “Showered yet? Just playing.”

In another instance, on July 21, 2023, he texted her at 8 p.m. asking what she was doing that night. When she said she had no plans, he responded: “I look forward to eventually getting (the woman’s) happy hour invite.”

Callender also sent her a picture of an expensive bottle of whiskey from Costco with the message, “Want a bottle of this…”

The third woman’s complaint said that she had filed a sexual harassment complaint years earlier against Callender, but he added himself inappropriately to a panel reviewing her for a promotion in the agency. She did not get the job. Her claims that he did it in retaliation “were more likely than not true,” investigators concluded, calling it “an obvious conflict of interest.”

Another investigation conducted last year, also released Tuesday, found Callender used district staff members to work on NAACP-related projects and used district facilities for NAACP functions.

The district board named Melanie Richardson, the interim CEO, to serve for another year, at a salary of $511,000, while it searches for a new CEO.

Document showing the Callender misconduct investigation:

Document showing Callender’s response: 

Document showing Callender’s ethics investigation: