WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A senior official in the city of West Palm Beach’s information technology department has remained in his role despite three different human resources investigations into his behavior, according to records WPTV obtained from a public records request.
According to the 20 pages of records released, the latest investigation into Chief Information Officer Paul Jones was completed in February 2025 after the union representing city employees filed a class action grievance, asking the city to remove Jones from his position.
A union representative for Professional Managers and Supervisors Association, Kathleen Carr, told WPTV their grievance is still in arbitration with the city — meaning the city could end up having to settle with the union using taxpayer resources beyond the current resources being used to fight the case.
Each investigation started after various employees complained about workplace environment. Employees like Mary Pat Rhodes complained about Jones publicly humiliating employees, yelling and bullying in the workplace.
She told WPTV’s Ethan Stein that Jones “made every day horrible” and drove her to quit the city’s IT department.
"If he could embarrass you or humiliate you, he would jump on it,” Rhodes said. “…It was so hard to get things done. It was such a hostile, toxic work environment, back stabbing. Nobody would trust anybody.”
Rhodes filed the first complaint in July 2021 after documenting various issues within the office. According to records, the city’s HR department investigated “allegation of mistreatment towards the employees” and found those allegations substantiated after talking with 14 employees.
“His behavior was described as confrontational and impulsive, and that he was seen yelling and/or slamming doors when frustrated or when he does not like the answer to his question,” wrote Sylvia Gregory. “Employees stated that he occasionally could not control his temper, was demeaning, and not willing to listen to others' point of view. Some employees indicated that he would have preconceived opinions of people without knowing what they do or who they are. This type of behavior was exhibited in front of employees at meetings either in person or virtual meetings.”
Records also show Jones was investigated for mistreating employees based on race and gender, but a human resources employee found those claims not substantiated. According to the notice of findings, Jones was required to take courses to help better his communication and leadership skills, and employees noticed a positive change in his behavior.
But Jones would be investigated two more times for similar behavior issues as he ran the city’s IT department; three investigations were completed within four years.
“Whoever the last person was, I’m really sorry because I wish I had done something that it didn’t happen to them,” Rhodes told WPTV’s Ethan Stein. “I thought about going to a lawyer. I thought about contacting the paper and then I just thought sometimes you can’t fight city hall.”
Records show Diana Alvarez, another city employee, complained in December 2022 after an incident at work where Jones forced her into the space between her desk and his body.
“He held that position breathing heavily close to my head and sarcastically dismissing what I had to say for about a minute," Alvarez wrote. “I have had many male supervisor and coworkers in the five years that I have worked for the city and had never for even less than a minute felt my physical space being disrespected for the sole purpose of humiliation. I must mention however this is not the first time that Mr. Jones approaches me in an aggressive disrespectful manner. He has in the past stormed into my cubicle, early in the morning, when nobody is around, put his hand down forcefully on the desk, got on face and yelled over an unrelated work issue.”
Alvarez wrote that she spoke up after she received emails and verbal warnings from her immediate supervisor about the quality of her work after the incident.
"This is the case of a man that holds a high and respected position harassing a woman that holds a much lower position than him for the purpose not to build a more productive workforce of course, but to display power and force through humiliation, sadly. I will not be intimidated, and I will be responsible enough to speak up when I must,” she wrote.
According to the notice of findings, dated December 2022, human resources could not substantiate any policy violations after interviewing three employees. However, the records said those employees described Jones’ behavior as confrontational, impulsive, and yelling when frustrated.
“The interviewed employees perceived Mr. Jones as having an intimidating demeanor that interrupts the workplace,” wrote Kanisha Sims. “This type of behavior was allegedly exhibited in front of employees in the office and during a virtual meeting.”
A third investigation started after another employee filed a complaint in August 2024. Then her union, then Professional Managers and Supervisors Association, filed a class action grievance.
According to the grievance, the union claims the problems within the city’s IT department has “overflowed” to related departments by creating a toxic, hostile and unsafe work environment.
"City of West Palm Beach IT Department Management has exceeded their management rights including but not limited to treating employees in a controlling, denigrating, demeaning manner, applying excessive surveillance, bullying tactics, targeting specific employees, applying intimidation and putting employees against each other,” the union’s grievance reads. “This hostile, toxic work environment additionally fails to support employee well-being, optimal performance and successful outcomes of employees in their work roles for the city and residents of West Palm Beach.”
The investigation, where 38 of the 44 employees chose to speak with human resources, substantiated claims that there was alleged mistreatment of IT employees and was completed in February 2025.
The employees described his behavior as confrontation, impulsive and sometimes punitive, according to the notice of findings. These employees said Jones acted as a micromanager and “creates chaos” by constantly changing priorities and goals, or taking away tasks when he doesn’t agree with an employee's opinion.
“Even though, not every employee interviewed experienced incidents of mistreatment from Mr. Jones, almost every employee described the culture/environment at the department as: unwelcome, tense, hostile, toxic, a culture of fear, employees on edge, that 'keep their head down', not because of the workload, but because of Mr. Jones' management style,” wrote Sylvia Gregory.
According to the notice of findings, the city’s human resources department also investigated Jones for mistreating people based on age, race or gender. It didn’t substantiate those claims, but some employees claimed Jones would talk over, interrupt or downplay female employees — particularly women of color.
According to the report, it was alleged by employees that there were differences on the remote workdays assigned to females versus males and minorities versus non-minorities, that favored the non-minority and male employees.
"Employees interviewed commented that Mr. Jones' actions are 'not in your face actions, but very subtle incidents' and that Mr. Jones does not realize these actions may be considered discriminatory,” wrote Sylvia Gregory. “Mr. Jones denied all of these allegations and based on our investigation and interview with the witnesses we could not find evidence to substantiate the specific allegations of mistreatment based on age, race and/or gender.”
Jones declined to talk with WPTV on camera or answer questions, but he told us all the allegations made against him are false.
A spokesperson for the city of West Palm Beach said it does not comment on pending investigations or comment on personnel issues.
