Toronto Community Housing Corp. chief executive Gene Jones has been denied his annual bonus, given a management coach, and forced to sign up for a university’s “executive leadership program” after an investigation found he violated the public landlord’s policies and “failed to exercise proper management oversight.”

TCHC chair Bud Purves announced the board’s unusual sanctions against Jones on Thursday. Purves, however, would not say what Jones was found to have done, and Jones himself was absent without explanation from the board meeting where his fate was debated behind closed doors.

The board’s acknowledgment of wrongdoing by Jones is the latest embarrassment for the long-troubled government company he was hired to turn around — and that Mayor Rob Ford claims he already has.

The discipline announced Thursday may not be the end of Jones’s woes: the city ombudsman is conducting a separate investigation into his hiring and promotion practices, and her report is expected within months.

Numerous TCHC employees have complained to city officials about Jones’s personnel methods since he began a broad management shakeup upon his arrival in mid-2012. Sources have told the Star that the investigation that led to the sanctions focused on two recent allegations from internal whistleblowers.

The board was most concerned by an allegation that Jones had unilaterally fired chief operating officer Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas in January — only four months after she replaced someone else he fired — and agreed to pay her $150,000. The board is supposed to be heavily involved in the hiring and firing of senior officers, and Jones claimed publicly that Llewellyn-Thomas “resigned.”

The probe was conducted by law firm Cassels Brock & Blackwell; the findings were not released. Asked Thursday if Jones had lied to the board about Llewellyn-Thomas, Purves said: “He didn’t lie to the board in his mind. It was a matter of board procedure and policies that need an enhancement, and a closer adherence by Gene Jones.”

Jones, who makes $245,000 per year and has a master’s degree in business administration, will have to accept mentoring from other housing executives. He will get no bonus for his work in 2013. Half of future bonuses will be linked to “organizational excellence related to improvement in managerial style and performance.”

Purves would not say how much the education programs would cost the TCHC. He said the total would be “well less” than the bonus he said Jones was eligible for in 2013 — 20 per cent of his salary, according to the TCHC, or $49,000.

One board member, Councillor Cesar Palacio, said the board voted 12-1 against firing Jones. Ford, likely breaching confidentiality rules, accused Councillor Maria Augimeri of being the one dissenter. But Augimeri said, “there was no vote to either get rid of or keep Mr. Jones.”

The second allegation was that managers tried to make it appear as if Jones’s executive assistant made less money than she did. Sources said the allegation was that management wanted to keep the assistant off the so-called “sunshine list” — a public list of civil servants who earn more than $100,000. Purves said the investigation found “there was no attempt to manipulate the sunshine list.”

“The problem there is that they were working on her pay and how things were going forward and they didn’t understand the implications of what they were doing,” Purves said, offering no details.

Jones is the former leader of housing agencies in Detroit, Indianapolis and Kansas City, all of which are much smaller than the 1,600-employee TCHC. He took over in Toronto following the dismissal of the TCHC board and chief executive Keiko Nakamura, after a spending and procurement scandal.

Ford pushed for the ouster of the board and Nakamura in 2011. He is a vocal supporter of Jones.

On Thursday, Ford said the board went “a little too far” in requiring Jones to take classes.

“I support Gene Jones, I don't think any of us are perfect,” he said. “He has done a phenomenal job at Toronto Community Housing and, like in sport or anything else, if you take a penalty you spend two minutes in the penalty box, and I think he’s spending two minutes in the penalty box. That doesn’t mean you're kicked off the team, that doesn’t mean you’re not the captain of the team, you move on.

“He recognizes that and I support Eugene Jones 100 per cent for the job he’s done and he’s going to continue to do.”

Ford added: “Did he make a mistake? Yes, he made a mistake; it doesn't mean he gets suspended for 20 games, if I can use a hockey analogy. I think if you lose your bonus that’s a pretty severe penalty. I call that two minutes in the box, but sending him to school to be coached — I think Gene Jones knows how to coach.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Jones also received endorsements from members of the board. Councillor Cesar Palacio called him a “phenomenal CEO.” Councillor Frances Nunziata said “he’s done the best job ever for this corporation.”

A communications advisor from the firm Navigator, Martha Durdin, was seen at the board meeting. TCHC spokeswoman Sara Goldvine said Cassels Brock “engaged” Durdin “to provide strategic communications advice to the board, which was necessary given the nature of the deliberations.” It was not immediately clear who paid for Durdin’s services.