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Council Authorizes Secret Settlement of Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
February 17, 2004

From September 2002 to May 2003, when Richmond City Jailer Shelley Miyuki Tolliver was allegedly sexually harassed by former Police Department executive Armand Mulder and complained to her superiors, she was apparently shocked that her harasser was allowed to continue to share her workspace, continue as her boss and continue to harass her.

Mulder, who lives in San Ramon, was brought to Richmond from Oakland by former Police Chief Joseph Samuels, Jr. Ultimately, Mulder was forced to leave the Police Department. According to a January 28, 2004, article in the West County Times, “Armand Mulder, Samuels' top civilian aide, retired in April [2003] under the cloud of a sexual harassment complaint. Samuels did not discipline Mulder for months after the complaint and, when the City Council investigated and ordered Samuels to fire him, he did not.”

In January of 2004, the City Council, in executive session, authorized a settlement with Ms. Tolliver for $100,000 to end a lawsuit filed against the City of Richmond in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Case No. C03-4525JL). On February 6, 2004, the agreement was signed by both parties. The lawsuit, citing violation of civil rights and emotional distress, alleged that the City was negligent in not properly handling the sexual harassment complaint.

It is particularly troubling in these times of reduced library hours, firefighter layoffs and other reductions in City services that $100,000 is paid to cover for the illegal acts of an incompetent City employee.

That, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. The City of Richmond pays out hundreds of thousands of dollars – sometimes millions - annually to settle claims and lawsuits that result from the illegal, negligent and just plain stupid acts or omissions of City employees. All of these are approved by the City Council in secret meetings, and none are reported voluntarily to the public, although the Brown Act makes their disclosure public information.

What is even worse is that none of the employees responsible for these considerable losses is ever made accountable. The full impact is absorbed by the taxpayers, and the pattern continues.

It’s not that a person like Mulder couldn’t pay for it. Check out his resume from 2002:

Armand Mulder, Ph.D.


He is also an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University, San Francisco, Ca., a community college instructor; consultant to the State of California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training and the State's Department of Justice. He served on the State of California's P.O.S.T. Commission’s Accreditation Standards Development Committee. Dr. Mulder's role was to develop standards of operation and conduct for California's law enforcement community. Dr. Mulder is the Chief Executive Officer of THE MULDER GROUP, Inc., a consultancy servicing local, state, federal and international governments and businesses in such areas as Organizational Development, Management and Supervisory Training, Turnaround Management, Team Building, Assessment Centers, Benchmarking, Cultural Awareness and Defusing Violence in the Workplace Training. He is a frequent lecturer before professional organizations and has his manuscripts regularly published in educational, professional and mass media magazines. Dr. Mulder appears frequently on local and national newscasts. Dr. Mulder received his A.B. degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley; his Master's degree in Counseling Psychology/MFCC from Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Ca., and a Ph.D. in Public Administration with emphasis in Organizational Behavior and Development from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, Ca. He is a recipient of the NAGEL T. MINER LECTURESHIP AWARD for Excellence in Teaching (GGU, 1990), The School of Business Distinguish Professor Award for 1996 and the Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Adjunct Professor (GGU, 1994, 1995 and 1996). Dr. Mulder has co-founded and chaired community based organizations and mentoring groups throughout the greater S.F. Bay Area. He is a Lifetime member of the California Peace Officers Association (CPOA).

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