City Council-Commissioned Investigation Finds Joe Jones Has a "Sustained Pattern of Inappropriate and Unprofessional Behavior"

Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones at a City Council meeting in early 2024. Jones has been accused of at least five separate incidents of harassment in the workplace, going back to June of 2022. Credit: Mark Oprea

Cleveland City Council this week released a summary of an investigative report conducted by the law firm of McDonald Hopkins that catalogs two years of harassment allegations against Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones. The investigation found that Jones had “sustained pattern of inappropriate and unprofessional behavior.”

A memo summarizing the report, which was released after Jones had stepped down from his committee assignments, said that he also likely violated Council policies on sexual harassment and workplace violence.

The probe into Jones’ misbehavior with stemmed from a complaint sent to Council President Blaine Griffin about Jones’ conduct in a meeting with Destination Cleveland on May 31, 2024. Jones was invited to meet a muralist who was hired by Destination Cleveland to paint a property in Lee-Harvard, for which Jones would give his creative input.

Instead, a letter to Griffin read, Jones’ mind and comments shifted to an uncomfortable realm.

“The Councilman proceeded to speak about my looks in an uncomfortable manner,” the artist, who remains anonymous, wrote in a statement. “He spoke about how beautiful I was and details of my face and all these attributes that I have that he and his neighborhood would want to see and pay attention to the mural.”

“At this point, I disassociated in order to just get through the meeting,” she added, “as I was extremely uncomfortable.”

Five more incidents of misconduct were included in the report, including from accusers who are employees of the City of Cleveland. Five witnesses were interviewed, Cleveland.com reported on Wednesday, detailing at least two years of complaints.

In a September incident, a rift between Jones and an employee led to that employee leaving in tears at the hand of “racial harassment.” “Call me a slave,” Jones said, according to the report summary. “You have 17 masters.”

In February of 2024, Jones allegedly sat “closely” to an employee who was explaining specific policy to Jones using an iPad and touched her breast.

“After I explained the document to him, he patted me on the left shoulder with both hands,” that employee wrote in her testimony, Ideastream reported. “He put his right hand on the back of my shoulder and put his left hand on the front, but his left hand also touched my chest (above my armpit) and the top of my left breast.”

“I kind of turned away from him,” she added, “and he got up and went back to the table.”

All incidents reported by McDonald-Hopkins date back to 2022, when Jones was first accused of hot-headedness that made several employees question his demeanor.

After threatening one employee’s job for a mistake, in June 2022, Jones was curt: “I’d like to remind you that you’re an at-will employee,” he allegedly told her, the report detailed.

Five months later, in November, Jones grew “angry and extremely rude” after one of his employees didn’t use casino revenue for a use Jones had wanted.

He allegedly became “VERY VERY angry” and slammed his desk, Ideastream reported, and stormed off into a nearby office.

“I am not seeking an apology from Councilmember Jones, because I don’t believe it would be an honest gesture,” the employee wrote in a statement. “I would just like the incident to be noted and that there be a discussion with the councilmember to identify his true concerns and address his extremely aggressive behavior.”

Jones did not respond to a request for comment Scene made last week and declined to be interviewed by McDonald Hopkins for the investigation.

Through the findings of the law firm, one-on-one behavioral coaching has been demanded of Jones, or he could be up against public censure.

Griffin initially tried to shield Jones’ identity as the subject of the investigation but relented after reports in the past week.