Shashwat Awasthi and Harish Sridharan

(Reuters) – James Hardie Industries (NYSE:) Industries, world’s biggest fibre cement manufacturer, fired Jack Truong as Chief Executive Officer Friday, claiming that his management style was inconsistent with company codes of conduct.

This move comes in spite of James Hardie’s recent boom, due to strong US demand for their fibre cement products. It sent shares down nearly 11%.

Truong’s interactions with 30-50 employees over several months was not discriminatory. However, the company said that Truong “extensively” and “materially violated” its code of conduct.

Mike Hammes, executive chairman of the company, stated that Truong had been pushed to improve his behavior after many employees made complaints about Truong and threatened to leave because Truong was acting in a bad way.

Hammes claimed that, despite Hammes calling and engaging external counsel, Hammes did not see any genuine change.

He stated that Truong was unwilling to admit the cause of the problems. “It wasn’t a chemical problem. It was much more fundamental.”

Hammes didn’t elaborate on the cause, but stressed that the problems did not arise from disagreements about the strategy of the company or its work culture.

Truong assumed the role of CEO in February 2019. He did not respond immediately.

James Hardie appointed Harold Wiens as the interim CEO. He is an independent director who was formerly at 3M Co and has stated that it will evaluate both external and internal candidates for permanent employment.

Additionally, the company raised its projected fiscal 2022 adjusted net profits forecast from $580 million to $600 million to $605 million and $625 millions.

GRAPHIC – James Hardie stock soars since 2017 strategic transformation

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