A U.S. District Court Judge in New York dismissed an employment discrimination lawsuit Tuesday brought by a former CEO who claimed a credit union allegedly didn’t hire him because he had Crohn’s disease.
Sean Jelen claimed in his civil lawsuit that the $416 million Nassau Financial Federal Credit Union in Westbury, N.Y., planned to offer him the CEO job and then allegedly rescinded the offer after learning of his disability. In court documents, Nassau Financial denied Jelen’s allegation. The credit union stated in court documents that Jelen misrepresented his “status as qualified to hold the CEO’s position and failed to disclose all relevant information.”
U.S. District Judge Joseph P. Bianco dismissed Jelen’s civil lawsuit for failing to comply with a court order to attend a Sept. 7 hearing and for failing to prosecute the lawsuit’s claims.
Jelen filed the civil lawsuit on July 28, 2016 just two weeks after he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and attempted bank fraud, admitting to a series of fraudulent schemes, including embezzling more than $700,000 while he served as president/CEO of Valor Federal Credit Union in Scranton, Pa.
Jelen has not been sentenced for his crimes because probation officials are finalizing a presentencing report for the federal court, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Harrisburg, Pa., said Wednesday.
On Aug. 19, 2015, the day he was fired from Valor, Jelen learned the Nassau Financial board wanted to interview him for the CEO’s job on Sept. 18, 2015. Two days later, the credit union’s executive recruiter told Jelen he would receive an unconditional offer from the board of directors, according to Jelen’s lawsuit.
Later, the recruiter questioned Jelen about his employment with Valor. The former CEO told the recruiter that he had been out on disability leave since Aug. 19 for Crohn’s disease and was scheduled to undergo surgery, but he would be able to start his new job in November. On Sept. 23, the board decided not to hire Jelen because of concerns about Valor’s financial performance. By the end of the 2015 and 2016, the credit union posted a net loss of $3.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, NCUA financial performance reports showed.
Valor was merged with the $22 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union in Alexandria, Va., during the first quarter of this year.
