REDLANDS, Calif. — The city of Redlands has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle another sexual misconduct and retaliation lawsuit filed by a former police department employee, marking the latest in a series of harassment claims tied to former Deputy Chief Michael Reiss.
Why it matters: To date, the city has paid out $3.7 million to settle claims connected to Reiss and the city, including allegations of quid pro quo sexual harassment, retaliation and a hostile work environment within the Redlands Police Department.
Details of the settlement: The latest settlement, approved in closed session during a special City Council meeting on June 24, resolves an August 2022 lawsuit brought by former Community Service Officer Julie Alvarado-Salcido against Reiss and the city. In exchange for dismissal of the lawsuit and release of claims, the city will pay Salcido a lump sum of $1.2 million, according to public meeting minutes. The vote passed 3-2, with Mayor Pro Tem Marc Shaw and Council Member Denise Davis opposing the settlement.
Allegations of sexual coercion and a culture of grooming
Salcido’s complaint, filed with the San Bernardino County Superior Court in August 2022, alleges that Reiss, then a lieutenant and later a deputy chief, used his authority to coerce her into sexual acts beginning just weeks after she was hired.
Salcido was hired as a fingerprint technician in August 2015. Shortly thereafter, the suit claims, she was subjected to frequent sexual comments from male coworkers, including crude questions about her body. But according to the lawsuit, that dynamic changed after an incident in which Reiss, her supervisor, invited her to the San Bernardino DoubleTree Hotel bar under the pretense of a group gathering. The outing ended with Reiss allegedly coercing her into performing oral sex in the back seat of his city-issued vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
After that encounter, Salcido said the inappropriate comments from other male employees largely stopped. She later learned this shift reflected an internal culture where women who had been targeted or groomed by higher-ranking men were referred to as being “in the pocket” of that supervisor and effectively off-limits to others, the suit claims.
According to the lawsuit, Reiss coerced Salcido into performing oral sex on multiple occasions, including during a December 2016 drive to a SWAT training event in Menifee, and again in August 2019 in her basement office at the police department.
Her complaint also accuses the city of fostering a hostile work environment and failing to act on years of internal warnings, personnel complaints and retaliation against women who reported misconduct.
Salcido ultimately resigned in 2019 after multiple stress leaves, alleging that her mental and physical health had deteriorated in the face of retaliation and harassment.
Her claims were later corroborated in a lawsuit filed by forensic specialist Geneva Holzer in September 2023, which included additional allegations against Reiss. Among the most disturbing are those surrounding a semen-stained chair Holzer discovered in Salcido’s workstation in December 2019.
According to Holzer’s complaint, Sgt. Kyle Alexander and Commander Stephen Crane carried out an order by Reiss to destroy the chair and conceal the evidence.
Investigations into Salcido’s claims
The city was formally served with Salcido’s lawsuit on Dec. 1, 2022.
The city moved to dismiss the lawsuit on Jan. 10, 2023. In its demurrer, the city argued that her claims were either legally barred or insufficiently supported. It sought to dismiss key allegations on the grounds that some incidents fell outside the statute of limitations and others failed to state facts adequate to support legal claims.
In an email on July 2, city spokesperson Carl Baker said, “Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the city retained an outside investigator who conducted a full and comprehensive investigation into each of the allegations of misconduct.” Officials declined further comment, stating the settlement agreement has not yet been finalized. The city did not provide the outcome of the investigation.
An outside investigation was launched in January 2023 after the alleged cover-up of the semen-stained chair was brought to the attention of Sgt. Patrick Leivas, according to Holzer’s complaint. Leivas reportedly shared the finding with former Deputy Chief Travis Martinez, and an outside investigation into alleged misconduct by Reiss began shortly after.
Reiss was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 30, 2023, and retired on March 4, 2023.
Martinez claimed in a June 2023 complaint that despite knowledge of the allegations against Reiss in December 2022, the city failed to launch a timely investigation. He wrote that the situation “demonstrates how significant allegations of sexual misconduct are treated in a laissez-faire manner.”
The $1.2 million settlement adds to a growing list of payouts by the city related to sexual misconduct and workplace retaliation. On July 7, 2023, Redlands agreed to pay $1.7 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by former Officer Laurel Falconieri and Detective Leslie Martinez. That case alleged a longstanding culture of “pervasive sexual favoritism” inside the police department. Falconieri received $1.15 million and Martinez $550,000.
In an email to Community Forward Redlands on July 1, Salcido’s attorney, Cristal L. Cabrera, wrote: “When employers permit their supervisors, who should know better, to proposition subordinate employees for sexual activity during work hours and especially to engage in sexual activity at the place of work, the damage to the targeted employee can be irreparable.”
Cabrera noted that California law prohibits supervisors from engaging in such conduct.
“Currently we only know about Ms. Salcido and Ms. Falconieri, who both had their dreams of a career in law enforcement crushed because of the unwanted attention of a married man who could not behave himself at work,” Cabrera wrote.
With two additional complaints against the department ongoing, Cabrera raised the question: "How many other women may have been targeted?"
The full settlement will be available for public review in the city clerk’s office once it has been executed, city officials said.
