Atlanta, January 20, 2023–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Board of Directors of PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM ) announced today the findings of its investigation into an alleged violation of the Company’s Code of Ethical Business Conduct involving a former employee’s inappropriate use of social media. As previously announced, the company immediately terminated the former employee after verifying the code violations.
As part of the Board’s fiduciary duty to fully assess the matter, the Board has engaged King & Spalding LLP to conduct a thorough independent investigation into the allegations. King & Spalding’s work was led by John Horn, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia with more than 25 years of experience in government and internal investigations.
The investigation determined the following:
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The former employee established separate Twitter accounts, which he used to express criticism* of certain members of the Pulte family.
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Former employees acted alone. There is no evidence any other company employees were involved or aware of his actions.
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There is no evidence that the former employee used artificial intelligence or any other automated technology, such as a network of bots, to post on Twitter.
“PulteGroup’s board and leadership team deeply regrets making inappropriate comments on social media and violating the standards we set for all employees,” said Thomas Folliard, Chairman of the PulteGroup Board of Directors. With all due respect, the company maintains a positive relationship with them. Following this full review, we consider this investigation closed.”
*William J. Pulte, founder of PulteGroup, retired in 2010 and passed away in 2018. His grandson, Bill Pulte, served on the board from September 2016 to May 2020, but has no relationship with, nor is it a representative of, the company.
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contact person
Jim Zummer
Office: 404.978.6434
jim.zeumer@pultegroup.com