Jets sued by former executive over alleged retaliation for misconduct claims against team president

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets are accused in a lawsuit by a former team vice president of firing her as part of the organization's response to allegations of sexual misconduct made against team President Hymie Elhai.

The Athletic reported that the lawsuit, which it obtained Friday, was filed Thursday by Elaine Chen, the Jets' former vice president of finance, who says she and her husband Larry Fitzpatrick, the team's former vice president of ticket sales, were fired as retaliation after the claims were made against Elhai.

Elhai has been with the organization since 2000 and became the team’s president in 2019.

In a statement to the Athletic, the Jets said the accusations against Elhai were investigated and deemed “baseless.” The team also said it plans to countersue Chen and Fitzpatrick for defamation and libel.

In her lawsuit, Chen said an anonymous email was sent to several team employees accusing Elhai of sending inappropriate text messages to female employees, as well as other incidents of misconduct.

Chen said in her lawsuit that the Jets, during their internal investigation, targeted people in the organization who “supported the allegations against Elhai and/or the belief that Mr. Elhai’s sexual conduct warranted an actual investigation and/or disciplinary action."

Chen said Fitzpatrick received a copy of the email, was “interrogated” about it by the Jets and was soon fired after confirming the allegations against Elhai.

According to the Athletic, the Jets said Chen participated in a “fabricated email” and the text messages and interactions attributed to Elhai were “grossly over-exaggerated and positioned for the sole purpose of the fabricated narrative.”

The Jets also said in the statement to the Athletic that the former employee responsible for the original email acknowledged during the team's investigation that the allegations against Elhai were false and they “worked with Fitzpatrick to facilitate the email.”

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FILE - New York Jets president Hymie Elhai looks on as players warm up before an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Oct. 8, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

COTONOU, Benin (AP) — A group of soldiers has appeared on Benin ’s state TV announcing the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, the latest of many in West Africa.

The group, which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, on Sunday announced the removal of the president and all state institutions.

Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri has been appointed president of the military committee, the soldiers said.

Following its independence from France in 1960, the West African nation witnessed multiple coups, especially in the decades following its independence. Since 1991, the country has been politically stable following the two-decade rule of Mathieu Kérékou, a Marxist-Leninist who renamed the country the People’s Republic of Benin.

President Patrice Talon had been in power since 2016 and was due to step down next April after the presidential election.

Talon’s party pick, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, was the favorite to win the election. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have sufficient sponsors.

Last month, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from five to seven years, keeping the term limit at two.

The coup is the latest in a string of military takeovers that have rocked West Africa. Last week, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau removed former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election in which both he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners.

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria

FILE - Benin's President Patrice Talon attends a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)