Philanthropist Bill Pulte sues former company exec alleging online bot harassment
FOX 2 (WJBK) - Philanthropist Bill Pulte is known for his generosity and has a Twitter following of more than three million.
In 2020, Pulte spoke with FOX 2’s Roop Raj.
"The whole thing has gone absolutely viral, I’ve given away over a million dollars of my own money," he said.
But the grandson of the late founder of Pulte homes — a company founded in Metro Detroit — is making news for entirely different reasons.
He’s filed a lawsuit against a longtime Pulte executive who was slated to become the chief operating officer of the company in January.
That executive, Brandon Jones' employment now terminated.
According to court documents - "Brandon Jones created a sophisticated network of factitious accounts — also known as bots — to target, publish and artificially amplify incessant, coordinated and malicious attacks on Pulte, his grandfather and the Pulte family."
On Thursday Bill Pulte appeared on CNBC to discuss the case.
"We have forensic evidence," he said. "I've got to be careful because it’s ongoing litigation, that ties certain things to his email, that ties certain things to other profiles that he’s done. We sent a notice to the board - and believe it or not, the bots started deleting things."
The lawsuit states that one of Jones’ bots alleged that Pulte was accusing his own father of being involved with, or causing the fire that destroyed the Oakland Hills Country Club in February of this year. Pulte's parents were members of the historic and prestigious country club.
"You know Pulte is a great brand, and our family is a great family, but he’s accusing family members of mine so it’s very personal of crimes, all kinds of crazy stuff," Pulte told CNBC.
Jones’ termination follows an independent investigation that determined he violated the company’s code of ethics — according to a Pulte Group press release.
Former Pulte Group executive Brandon Jones
"There’s going to be a lot of stuff that’s going to come out, I think we feel very strongly about," Pulte told CNBC. "If we say something, we are going to stand behind it. We wouldn’t have taken this step if we couldn’t get it to stop."
Brandon Jones' attorney Mark Raymond sent a statement to FOX 2 that said:
"The lawsuit contains many falsehoods and inaccuracies, chief among them the provably false allegation that Mr. Jones is using or has ever used "bots" or "bot networks."
Unfortunately, Bill Pulte’s far-fetched claims have had their desired effect, causing Mr. Jones’ termination from the job that he loved, and public humiliation at the hands of Mr. Pulte’s relentless and uncaring media machine."
The complete statement from Raymond, on behalf of Jones, is below.
Philanthropist Bill Pulte
"The lawsuit contains many falsehoods and inaccuracies, chief among them the provably false allegation that Mr. Jones is using or has ever used "bots" or "bot networks."
"Unfortunately, Bill Pulte’s far-fetched claims have had their desired effect, causing Mr. Jones’ termination from the job that he loved, and public humiliation at the hands of Mr. Pulte’s relentless and uncaring media machine.
"Mr. Jones is a private person and family man, but looks forward to the facts becoming known. Mr. Pulte has caused severe and thoughtless harm to Mr. Jones and his family.The lawsuit contains many falsehoods and inaccuracies, chief among them the provably false allegation that Mr. Jones is using or has ever used "bots" or "bot networks."
"Unfortunately, Bill Pulte’s far-fetched claims have had their desired effect, causing Mr. Jones’ termination from the job that he loved, and public humiliation at the hands of Mr. Pulte’s relentless and uncaring media machine.
"Mr. Jones is a private person and family man, but looks forward to the facts becoming known. Mr. Pulte has caused severe and thoughtless harm to Mr. Jones and his family."
-Mark Raymond