FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The New York Jets are accused in a lawsuit by a former crew vice chairman of firing her as a part of the group's response to allegations of sexual misconduct made in opposition to crew president Hymie Elhai.
The lawsuit, which was obtained by ESPN on Friday, was filed Thursday by Elaine Chen, the Jets' former vice chairman of finance, who says she and her husband Larry Fitzpatrick, the crew's former vice chairman of ticket gross sales, had been fired as retaliation after the claims had been made in opposition to Elhai.
Elhai has been with the group since 2000 and have become the crew's president in 2019. Chen was employed in 2010 by the Jets as a finance director. She was named a vice chairman in 2021.
In her lawsuit, Chen stated an nameless electronic mail was despatched to a number of crew staff accusing Elhai of sending inappropriate textual content messages to feminine staff, in addition to different incidents of misconduct.
Chen stated in her lawsuit that the Jets, throughout their inside investigation, focused folks within the group who “supported the allegations in opposition to Elhai and/or the assumption that Mr. Elhai's sexual conduct warranted an precise investigation and/or disciplinary motion.”
Chen stated Fitzpatrick acquired a duplicate of the e-mail, was “interrogated” about it by the Jets and was quickly fired after confirming the allegations in opposition to Elhai.
In accordance with the Bergen Document, the Jets stated Chen participated in a “fabricated electronic mail” and the textual content messages and interactions attributed to Elhai had been “grossly over-exaggerated and positioned for the only objective of the fabricated narrative.”
The Jets additionally stated within the assertion that the previous worker accountable for the unique electronic mail acknowledged through the crew's investigation that the allegations in opposition to Elhai had been false they usually “labored with Fitzpatrick to facilitate the e-mail,” including the accusations in opposition to Elhai had been investigated and deemed “baseless.” The crew additionally stated it plans to countersue Chen and Fitzpatrick for defamation and libel.
ESPN's Wealthy Cimini and The Related Press contributed to this report.
