William J. Pulte, grandson and namesake of the PulteGroup’s founder, wants to see the Twitter activity of the company’s top lawyer as part of a lawsuit alleging an online campaign against Pulte and his family.
Pulte has asked a Florida court to issue a subpoena forcing Twitter to provide information about the online activity of Todd Sheldon, PulteGroup’s general counsel. That request, part of a suit Pulte filed in December against a now-fired executive with the company, was made because Pulte believes Sheldon’s Twitter actions are relevant to the case, according to a spokesman for Pulte.
Sheldon or his attorney have 10 days to object, the spokesman said.
PulteGroup will not comment on the substance of the Twitter request or other filings by Pulte, said company spokesman Jim Zeumer.
“The document that was provided to you by Bill Pulte is a subpoena filed in a private lawsuit that does not involve PulteGroup,” he said. “To be clear, neither PulteGroup nor any of its employees are a party to this lawsuit.”
In his suit, Pulte charged Brandon Jones, then a senior vice president with the company, of engaging in a long, online campaign — mainly on Twitter — that used stolen identities and aliases to accuse Pulte and his family of arson, elder abuse and violations of securities law.
The spokesman for Pulte said he wants to see Sheldon’s Twitter activity because he believes Sheldon was part of that online campaign.
Jones was fired by the company shortly after Pulte told the PulteGroup’s board of directors that he was filing the suit.
An attorney for Jones said the allegations were not true.
Atlanta-based PulteGroup is the nation’s third-largest homebuilder with revenues of $15.4 billion during the past four fiscal quarters. Pulte, whose grandfather founded the firm in Michigan in 1950, was a member of the company’s board for about four years, leaving in 2020.
Pulte said that during his tenure at the company he had opposed the promotion of Jones to chief operating officer. That appointment eventually came in the fall, but Pulte alleges an online campaign starting many months before.
In his suit, Pulte asked that Jones be stopped from further use of online platforms to attack the family and be forced to pay up to $75,000.
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