West Palm Beach CIO accused of bullying, creating ‘hostile, toxic’ work environment

Following several investigations by West Palm Beach, Florida’s human resources department, Paul Jones, the city’s chief information officer, has been accused of creating a hostile work environment, bullying and — in one former employee’s words — making work “horrible.”

Jones, who has served as CIO of West Palm Beach since 2019 and continues to hold the position, has been investigated by the city’s HR department three times over the last four years. Along with generally unprofessional behavior, some of the accusations against Jones include public humiliation, slamming doors, screaming and bullying, according to a report from WFLX Fox 29.

According to the most recent HR investigation, almost all of the 38 current employees interviewed about Jones’ behavior said the work environment was “unwelcome” and “tense.”

Mary Pat Rhodes, a former employee with the city’s IT department, allegedly reached out to the city’s human resources department in July of 2021 about Jones’ behaviors, which she had documented over the course of a year, WFLX reported.

“And if he could embarrass you or humiliate you, he would jump on it,” Rhodes said, adding that many of these behaviors got in the way of finishing work-related tasks, driving her to quit her role the city’s IT department. “It was such a hostile, toxic work environment — backstabbing. Nobody could trust anybody.”

Several months later, the city’s human resources department completed its first investigation into the allegations against Jones. After 14 interviews with employees, the investigation substantiated the allegations of “unprofessional conduct,” with several stating that Jones slammed doors, inappropriately yelled and had difficulty controlling his temper, the report said.

Following the investigation, Jones was required to take communication and leadership courses, but there are new allegations from current employees that the alleged problematic behavior has continued.

Since the first investigation, WFLX found, the city conducted two more investigations into Jones’ behavior, with the latest last February substantiating some of the claims.

The most recent investigation noted that employees reported a positive change in Jones’ behavior following the first investigation in 2021. Jones denied all of the allegations in a statement to WFLX Fox 29.