The Mountain View Whisman School District will pay $350,000 each to two women who accused former superintendent Ayindé Rudolph of sexual harassment and discrimination. Board president Charles DiFazio announced the settlements after the board reconvened in open session. The payments resolve complaints raised during the final months of Rudolph’s nearly decade-long tenure.
The board approved the settlements unanimously in closed session, according to the Mountain View Voice. The complaints, brought by Megan Pohlman and Heidi Galassi in fall 2024, were listed on the closed-session agenda as anticipated litigation involving two cases. It remains unknown whether they were filed before or after Rudolph resigned that November.
Pohlman is principal at Stevenson Elementary School. Galassi was Graham Middle School principal from 2021 until she resigned in 2024, the Voice reports. Neither woman responded to a request for comment Thursday evening, and the district had not released the settlement agreements as of Thursday. Superintendent Jeff Baier said the documents would be available Friday, according to the Voice.
Board Vows Changes to Complaint Process
DiFazio did not describe the specific conduct alleged in the complaints. He said the district will change its employee complaint process so administrators no longer have to report harassment or discrimination allegations to the person accused or to someone who directly reports to that person, according to the Mountain View Voice.
An outside option for workplace complaints
Employees seeking help beyond their workplace may contact the California Civil Rights Department, which says it may investigate and help resolve complaints of workplace discrimination, harassment or retaliation. The department says an employment complaint intake form must generally be submitted within three years of the date the person was last harmed.
DiFazio said employees should be treated with “respect and professionalism” and feel safe raising concerns.
Rudolph's Exit Came Amid Separate Spending Controversy
Rudolph led the district beginning in 2015 and resigned in November 2024 after taking a multi-week leave of absence, according to the Voice's earlier reporting. His departure followed public criticism over six-figure contracts for executive leadership coaching, meditation sessions for district leaders, and an outside public-relations firm — contracts that were later largely canceled, the Voice reported at the time.
A resignation agreement signed November 1, 2024, paid Rudolph $98,259.72 before deductions and was structured, according to reporting, to prevent him from suing the district or the district from suing him. The agreement also extended his district health and life insurance through January 31, 2025, or until he found other employment, and pushed back until June 30, 2025, a deadline tied to obligations on a loan secured by his primary residence, as reported by Mountain View Whisman School District. The document states plainly that it does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or liability by either party.
Rudolph has pushed back publicly against the scrutiny. He wrote, “it must be election time again!” and cited Genesis 39:17-20 and Proverbs 20:3. He said he was not part of the investigation and invoked the passages’ counsel to avoid strife.
Part of a Pattern of Costly Settlements
The $700,000 in payments adds to other costly settlements involving the district. The Voice reported that Mountain View Whisman agreed to pay $625,000 to a former Theuerkauf teacher who alleged she was fired for reporting an abusive situation, and separately reached a $1.6 million settlement in a sexual-assault lawsuit. The Voice also reported that the state had planned an external audit of the district’s finances amid the broader spending controversy surrounding Rudolph’s tenure.
The district has also faced academic disparities. More than 80% of white and Asian American students were proficient or above in math and English, compared with 31% of Hispanic students in English and 22% in math, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
