A November ruling in a related case addressed where Elaine Chen’s retaliation lawsuit may proceed, but did not resolve the competing allegations involving former New York Jets executive Larry Fitzpatrick. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Anthony R. Suarez denied the Jets’ request to compel arbitration in Chen v. New York Jets, LLC, according to Cole Schotz. The firm’s account says the dispute involved state protections for employees who raise or participate in workplace complaints and the federal law limiting forced arbitration in sexual-harassment-related disputes.
Fitzpatrick filed his own lawsuit on October 2 in Bergen County Superior Court, naming the Jets, team president Hymie Elhai and executive Eric Gelfand. He is a Jersey City resident and worked for more than 16 years as the team’s vice president of ticket sales and services, according to Daily Voice’s report on his complaint. Elhai joined the organization as an intern in 2000 and became president in 2019, FOX Sports reported.
The allegations and the response
Fitzpatrick’s complaint says Jets leadership received an anonymous email on July 10, 2025, alleging sexual harassment of female employees by Elhai, after which the team investigated. In interviews on July 16 and July 24, Fitzpatrick said he knew of alleged misconduct but had not spoken up because the women involved feared retaliation, and said he shared that concern. At the later meeting, he identified former Jets executive Robert Sullivan as the email’s sender and described alleged personal comments and an uninvited appearance at a wedding-related event. The complaint says the team offered him the option to resign and he declined, as reported by Daily Voice.
The Jets fired Fitzpatrick on July 25, accusing him of lying, destroying evidence and conspiring to defame Elhai, according to his lawsuit. His wife, former finance vice president Elaine Chen, was dismissed on July 30. Chen’s separate suit alleges her firing was because of her marriage to Fitzpatrick; Front Office Sports reported the termination dates and the allegation in her case.
Fitzpatrick alleges that statements to the media and in court filings, along with disclosure of private information the team allegedly obtained from his cellphone, damaged his reputation and were intended to divert attention from the harassment claims. He says the fallout has prevented him from finding work in the sports industry. His complaint seeks damages for alleged retaliation under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination, defamation, emotional distress and interference with his ability to earn a living; it requests compensation for lost wages, benefits and reputational harm but gives no dollar amount, Daily Voice reported.
The Jets’ countersuit offers a sharply different account. The team accuses Fitzpatrick, Chen and another former employee of conspiring to fabricate the harassment allegations and mislead investigators. It says roughly 4,000 deleted messages recovered from Fitzpatrick’s company phone support its claim, including an exchange in which Chen allegedly responded favorably to the anonymous email. These assertions are allegations in the team’s filing, not established findings, according to CBS Sports.
CBS Sports also reported that the Jets’ filing accused Fitzpatrick of other workplace violations, including explicit messages to coworkers, accessing adult content on company devices and taking part in Super Bowl squares pools the team said violated NFL gambling rules. The Jets further alleged that a former executive who wrote the anonymous email later admitted during questioning that the harassment claims were fabricated and implicated Fitzpatrick in helping arrange the effort.
Fitzpatrick and Chen maintain that their employment ended in retaliation connected to concerns about Elhai’s conduct; the Jets contend the allegations were fabricated and the former employees concealed their involvement. Neither side’s account has been proven in court, and the competing lawsuits remain pending.
