By Vincent Salandro | Builder
PulteGroup has fired incoming chief operating officer Brandon Jones days after the Pulte family filed a civil complaint against Jones, alleging harassment and defamation of the company’s founder, William Pulte, Bill Pulte, and the family of Bill Pulte through a network of Twitter bots.
Jones, the company’s senior vice president of field operations, was due to become the chief operating officer of Pulte in January. The company says the departure of Jones follows an independent investigation that determined he had violated the company’s code of ethical business conduct. PulteGroup president and CEO Ryan Marshall will assume the responsibilities of Jones on an interim basis.
The suit, filed Dec. 13, accused Jones of holding “an eight-year grudge” against Bill Pulte and using fake identities on Twitter to harass Pulte and members of his family. The Pulte family called for an independent investigation “firewalled off from executives” to assess the extent to which company and shareholders resources were used in Jones’ alleged behavior.
In a release announcing the lawsuit, Bill Pulte, a former independent member of the board of directors of PulteGroup, said he took action to “protect the legacy of Pulte Homes, my grandfather who was my mentor and partner, as well as my own reputation and to prevent Jones from doing irreparable harm through his continued spreading of vicious lies.”
