PulteGroup Inc. has fired its incoming chief operating officer after the grandson of the company's founder sued the executive this week, alleging he harassed him on Twitter.
Brandon Jones, senior vice president of field operations, will leave the company "effective immediately," according to a news release issued Friday, after "an independent investigation" determined he'd violated the company’s code of ethical business conduct. Jones was set to become the Atlanta-based homebuilder's second in command next month.
The announcement comes after Bill Pulte, the grandson of the late William J. Pulte — who started the firm in Detroit in the 1950s — sued Jones on Wednesday. In the defamation lawsuit, he accuses the defendant of holding a grudge against him and using several fake Twitter accounts to harass him and other Pulte family members.
Attempts to contact Jones by phone on Friday were unsuccessful. CEO Ryan Marshall is assuming Jones’ responsibilities on an interim basis.
Pulte sat on the company's board from 2016 to 2020 and is CEO of Pulte Capital Partners LLC investment firm. He's known as a Twitter philanthropist, frequently giving away money on the platform.
In a statement on Friday, he said the company board "took a necessary, first step" in limiting the firm's liability and says the termination was an acknowledgement of a "defamatory Bot Network ran on Company time" by Jones.
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