ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A specialist responsible for catering to the whims of executives and managers at PulteGroup’s Atlanta headquarters is blowing the whistle on discriminatory practices he witnessed and was ultimately himself subject to. In a lawsuit filed by Zausmer Law Firm in Ingham County, Michigan today, Ryan Adams, a 52-year-old Black professional, says that his former employer uses its Human Resources department to limit promotions of Black professionals and punish those who observe or report wrongdoing.
“I did my job and I did a fine job. PulteGroup saw me as a field hand, never promoting me based on merit, and discarded me as soon as I saw something I wasn’t supposed to see,” claims Ryan Adams.
Adams’ complaint is the latest in a recent string of public call outs and at least one other racial discrimination lawsuit by ex-PulteGroup employees. Adams says that the bravery of three Black ex-PulteGroup employees to tell their stories encouraged Adams to file suit and tell his.
Adams says that in reading the Hartsfield v. PulteGroup complaint (story can be found at CNN), he realized that his own experiences were not unique but appear to fit a fact pattern of behavior by PulteGroup executives led by Ryan Marshall, 47, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the homebuilder.
“Human Resources was not there for me,” says Adams. “However, they leapt into action after I saw the CEO’s buddy (and fellow executive) kissing someone they gave a promotion to while sticking me in a storage closet before ultimately letting me go after years of faithful service.”
The complaint alleges that Adams was treated “less than” by White managers and that there was a common understanding that Black employees had a more difficult time being promoted. Adams alleges that Black employees frequently give one another encouraging words when dealing with the unfairness and gatekeeping by CEO Marshall’s leadership team.
Adams went on to describe PulteGroup’s work environment. “This is about the culture at PulteGroup fostered by Ryan Marshall and his leadership team. There’s a culture of corruption going on over there and many are afraid to speak up fearing professional retaliation.”
In July 2022, approximately two or three months before he was terminated, Adams witnessed then-Executive Vice President Brandon Jones kissing Stephanie Byron, a Marketing Analyst, on the 18th floor. Adams says that Jones stared at him, knowing he saw the office romance. Soon after, Byron was apparently promoted to Director of Market Intelligence, a job title that did not previously exist. In fact, it was Adams who was directed to set up Byron’s new office.
Just a couple of weeks later, Shirley Hutchinson had Adams move from his cubicle on the 18th floor to a storage room on the 14th floor, where he worked for the remainder of his job until his wrongful termination on October 5, 2022.
Adams was clearly punished for seeing too much and believes the promotion he was entitled to may have saved him from being improperly terminated.
Brandon Jones was terminated by the PulteGroup Board of Directors on December 16, 2022 after it was determined that he violated the Code of Ethical Business Conduct.
Similarly, other Black ex-PulteGroup employees have publicly shared comparable stories. In the Hartsfield v. PulteGroup case, three Black professionals attested that they had stellar work performance ratings until they ran afoul of favored White managers. Human Resources was then weaponized against these employees to cover-up misdeeds, which are now the subject of multiple lawsuits and terminations.
You can read Ryan Adams’ lawsuit against PulteGroup by clicking here.