The former second-in-command at the Bellevue Police Department, who was subject to an internal investigation and ultimately demoted, was retroactively reinstated to his position and paid more than $50,000 by the city in an out-of-court settlement.

Former Deputy Chief Jim Jolliffe was placed on paid administrative leave in November 2015 while an investigation was conducted into his performance. An outside law firm was hired to conduct the investigation, which ultimately led to Jolliffe being demoted to the rank of captain and being moved to the patrol division.

However, Jolliffe’s lawyer said the investigation did not provide sustainable grounds to demote his client. Instead, he and his client believe Jolliffe was demoted because of a personality dispute between him and Police Chief Steve Mylett.

“I can’t tell you for sure what the motivation was on the police department’s part [to settle the case], but I think they felt they had a chance of losing the case on the appeal. There just weren’t substantial grounds to demote,” said attorney Jon Rosen.

Multiple city officials declined to address why the case was settled. Chief Mylett said that demoting Jolliffe was the correct decision, and that the mediation process and settlement was a business decision.

“My decisions were based on performance matters only and not personality conflicts. It’s apparent that Mr. Jolliffe’s views on the future of the Bellevue Police Department and the role of the deputy chief in shaping it differ from the direction the department is heading… This mediated agreement allows all involved parties to move forward,” he said in a statement.

In the settlement agreement finalized in August, Jolliffe agreed to retire from the police department on Sept. 30, at which point he would retroactively be reinstated to the position of deputy chief. The city of Bellevue paid $40,000 to the Rosen Law Firm for attorney fees and paid Jolliffe the difference in his deputy chief and captain salaries for the last six months — totalling $10,274 — as well as made contributions to his retirement plans.

Jolliffe’s demotion stemmed from a slow inflaming of tensions ignited by a November 2015 incident.

The investigation looked into three allegations against Jolliffe: performance deficiencies as deputy chief, inappropriate communications and a failure to appropriately retain and preserve public records via electronic communications.

Mylett previously stated that there had been a “continuing pattern of disrespectful and insolent behavior” on Jolliffe’s part since Mylett took over as chief in April 2015. Several instances of unprofessional behavior were detailed in the investigation report released earlier this year.

Jolliffe was placed on administrative leave following a November 2015 email exchange in which it was alleged he spoke in a condescending manner toward his subordinate, failed to provide counsel or constructive feedback and spoke critically of a Bellevue City Council member with said subordinate, according to investigation documents. The incident reportedly violated several city policies and written expectations set by Chief Mylett.

During an email exchange, Police Major Pat Spak spoke critically of Bellevue City Councilmember Jennifer Robertson, apparently not realizing several of his subordinates were included on the email thread. Jolliffe reportedly supported Spak’s negative characterization of the council member, failed to correct Spak’s actions and caused Spak to believe that Mylett was angry with the major.

Investigators found that Jolliffe regularly deleted work-related text messages in violation of city policy, but did not make any conclusions on the allegations of performance deficiencies and inappropriate communications.

Jolliffe appealed his demotion earlier this year, and the case headed into mediation. In the end, Rosen said his client’s case came down to a personality dispute and that both parties decided to “act like adults and resolve it.”

“Jim wasn’t anxious to continue working, he wanted to retire. He didn’t want to work with Chief Mylett anymore. I think he found him less than what he had hoped for in a chief of a major city,” Rosen said. “But, we wish him well. He’s got a tough job, probably one of the toughest jobs to have in the country right now.”