SCRANTON, Penn.–Sean Jelen, the former CEO of Valor Credit Union who has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $700,000 while at the CU, has filed suit against another credit union alleging discrimination when it did not hire him.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York, Jelen said he doesn’t believe he was denied the job as CEO at Nassau Financial Credit Union because he was dismissed from his post at Valor. Instead, Jelen is alleging that Westbury, N.Y.-based NFCU discriminated against him because of a disability — he suffers from Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder.
According to the suit, the same day he was fired from Valor, Aug. 19, 2015, he learned that Nassau’s board of directors wanted to interview him. Later that night, he was charged with driving under the influence in Scranton. He met with the Nassau board Sept. 18, the Scranton Times Tribune reported.
In the lawsuit, Jelen claims he was told by a recruiter that his interview with Nassau Financial had gone “exceedingly well,” and that he would receive an unconditional offer from the board with a scheduled start date of Nov. 23. The suit further claims that later on the same day he was contacted again by the recruiter who wanted to know more about his status with Valor.
Jelen alleges he said he was on disability due to Crohn’s disease and was scheduled to have surgery, and that two days later the recruiter contacted him via email to say that after further reviewing Valor CU’s financial information, they were moving on to another candidate for the CEO position.
As a result, Jelen says in the lawsuit, he has suffered loss of salary and benefits, humiliation, pain, stress, physical injuries, anxiety and emotional distress. The suit asks the amount of damages be determined at trial. The Scranton Times Tribune also reported that Jelen filed a complaint against Nassau Financial with the Equal Opportunity Commission in February. Everett Boccafola, a director with NFCU, has also been named as a defendant.
In June Jelen pleaded guilty to several charges of bank fraud for embezzling $718,000 from Valor. The funds were used for a variety of non-credit union-related purposes, including $30,271
to pay for his wife’s 40th birthday, according to prosecutors.
As CUToday.info reported here, Jelen is accused of numerous other crimes, including creating fictitious board members in order to rig a board election, forging contracts, and more.
He faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 20.