Jets File Counterclaim Over Alleged Conspiracy Against Their President
The New York Jets have filed a counterclaim in response to a previous lawsuit, alleging the involvement of a former vice president in an “illegal conspiracy.” This action seeks to falsely accuse the team president, Hymie Elhai, of sexual harassment, with the aim of damaging his reputation and career.
Elaine Chen, former vice president of finance, filed a lawsuit last week, arguing that both she and her husband, Larry Fitzpatrick, former vice president of ticket sales, were fired in retaliation for the accusations against Elhai.
The Jets’ response, a 67-page demand, claims that Chen knowingly participated in the presentation of a fabricated email to harm Elhai and the team.
According to the lawsuit, the email was created by an unidentified former employee. When confronted by the team, this person admitted that their accusations of harassment against Elhai were unfounded and that they had collaborated with Fitzpatrick to send the anonymous email.
The Jets have initiated an arbitration process against Chen and Fitzpatrick, filing claims for defamation, illicit interference, and civil conspiracy, among others.
The Jets’ lawsuit includes numerous text messages and screenshots from Fitzpatrick’s team-owned phone, which were collected after his dismissal. A forensic review of the phone reveals that Fitzpatrick lied about his involvement in sending the anonymous email and deleted 4,000 text messages in an attempt to obstruct the investigation.
According to the lawsuit, when the Jets questioned Fitzpatrick, with a lawyer present, he took out his phone and began to “frantically tap it,” apparently deleting text messages. He told investigators he was texting his wife about another matter.
The Jets’ forensic review revealed that the phone’s “recently deleted” folder included approximately 4,000 deleted text messages with current and former Jets employees. The lawsuit includes a screenshot of the “recently deleted” folder.
A supposed text message exchange occurred on July 10. It was sent to Fitzpatrick by the person who sent the anonymous email about Elhai.
The message said: “You and Elaine must not tell anyone, and I mean anyone, that I sent this. He can sue me for defamation and even if he were 100% wrong, I don’t need the headache. I set up an anonymous account and a VPN so they can’t trace my IP address.”
Fitzpatrick reportedly responded: “I will. I’ll give you the information you need in a bit.”
The next day, Fitzpatrick texted Chen to tell him he was sending the email, according to the lawsuit. Their alleged exchange was as follows:
Chen: “Ok, be careful.”
Fitzpatrick: “Sure. Did you read it?”.
Chen: “Pretty brilliant.”
Fitzpatrick’s phone also included text messages to other Jets employees objectifying women and making sexually explicit comments, visiting adult websites on his company phone, and interactions with women on similar sites that consisted of them sending him a photo of their genitals, according to the lawsuit. The Jets also claim he violated the NFL’s gambling policy by participating in Super Bowl betting pools.
Chen was hired in 2010 by the Jets as director of finance. She was named vice president in 2021. Elhai has been with the organization since 2000 and became team president in 2019.
In his lawsuit, Chen said that an anonymous email was sent to several team employees accusing Elhai of sending inappropriate text messages to female employees and other incidents of misconduct.
Chen said in his lawsuit that the Jets, during their internal investigation, focused on people in the organization who “supported the accusations against Elhai and/or the belief that Mr. Elhai’s sexual conduct warranted an investigation and/or actual disciplinary action”.
She said Fitzpatrick received a copy of the email, was “questioned” about it by the Jets, and was soon fired after confirming the accusations against Elhai. She said she was fired for marital discrimination. The Jets said she was fired for misconduct, including her dishonesty with investigators and her involvement in what they portray as a conspiracy against Elhai.
The Jets are requesting that she pay for the damages and the costs of the team’s legal expenses.
