Court fight pits bank CEO vs. her former executive assistant
- Key insight: At Amalgamated Bank, allegations that the CEO misused company funds have been met by counter-allegations of similar misconduct by the former employee who pointed the finger.
- What’s at stake: The case has not only financial implications, but also public-relations consequences, for a bank that’s a fixture in the labor movement and Democratic Party politics.
- Forward look: Following a judge’s recent ruling, the case is moving ahead to the discovery phase.
Processing Content
The CEO of New York-based Amalgamated Bank and her onetime executive assistant are locked in an inflammatory legal battle, with both individuals alleging that the other misused the bank’s funds.
The fracas highlights the risks that banks may face — not only in court, but also in the realm of public relations — when highly-placed employees leave their jobs on bad terms. Amalgamated, which has $9.4 billion of assets, is a fixture in both the labor movement and Democratic Party politics.
Patricia Velez, the former executive assistant, is one of three plaintiffs
Among that suit’s allegations was a claim that Brown misused Amalgamated’s funds. According to the complaint, the bank hired a man who was Brown’s handyman, tenant and friend as her personal driver, and then misclassified him as a human-resources professional.
The suit also alleged that the bank spent around $100,000 on a company car that was only used by Brown and her driver.
Velez said in her suit that she filed a whistleblower complaint to the bank’s board of directors — flagging the hiring of the handyman, among other alleged misuses of company money — in December 2024, or about four months before she was fired.
But a counterclaim filed Monday by Amalgamated casts Velez’s allegations in a different light.
According to the counterclaim, the bank discovered in late 2024 that Velez had made numerous purchases with corporate cards that had no legitimate business purpose. The bank said it later flagged 50 purchases — totaling about $5,500 — for which Velez had yet to submit receipts.
Read more:
In its counterclaim, the bank alleges that throughout 2024, Velez used corporate cards to pay for personal spending, including gymnastics classes, home solar paneling, hotels and flights, restaurant bills and Uber charges.
In a February 2025 email, Velez acknowledged that “apparently certain of my personal charges ended up on the card,” and she said that charges for a hotel and a flight “were inadvertently charged to the company card,” according to the bank’s counterclaim. Velez reimbursed $1,100 to the bank, but she still hasn’t paid for an additional $5,615.49 of expenses for which she hasn’t provided a business purpose, a receipt or both, the bank alleges.
Separately, the bank’s counterclaim states that Velez was employed as a real-estate agent while she worked at Amalgamated, and that she routinely did work for her real-estate business during the bank’s normal business hours.
Amalgamated is seeking damages from Velez of no less than $157,000.
In her 2025 lawsuit, Velez alleged that she was “wrongfully terminated” by the bank. But Amalgamated said in its court filing Monday that Velez was terminated “for cause,” pointing to what the bank called her “misuse” of corporate cards, and claiming that she “lied about it after the fact.”
Velez is not backing down.
Her lawsuit alleges not only that the bank’s CEO misused company funds, but also that the three plaintiffs, all of whom are Hispanic, were subjected to discrimination and a hostile work environment at Amalgamated. The lawsuit points the finger not only at Brown, who is Black, but also at other executives at the bank.
Velez’s lawyer, Derek Sells of the Cochran Firm, said in a written statement Tuesday that Amalgamated’s latest court filing highlights “the discriminatory, retaliatory and hostile work environment that exists under its current leadership.”
He accused the bank of “attacking those employees who have the courage to stand up and complain about illegal practices” while shielding Brown and “her hand-selected cronies.”
Velez’s lawyer also said that his client “refunded the bank for personal expenses she charged, as per proper bank policy.”
“We look forward to litigating these issues,” Sells said in his statement.
Amalgamated filed its counterclaim against Velez about a month after a judge’s ruling paved the way for much of her suit to move forward.
In a July 2026 decision, New York State Court Judge David Cohen allowed certain allegations in Velez’s suit to be litigated, while granting the bank’s motion to dismiss some other allegations.
Following that decision, Velez’s lawyer told American Banker that he was looking forward to getting into the discovery process — and deposing Brown and other Amalgamated executives. American Banker has previously
In its filing Monday, Amalgamated said that it has no obligation to respond to allegations that Brown misused company money because they relate to claims that have been dismissed. The bank denied other allegations that survived the judge’s ruling.
The bank said in a written statement that it is “pleased with the Court’s dismissal of several of the claims at the outset of the case. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously against the remaining claims and we look forward to presenting the full facts.”
Amalgamated and Brown are facing two separate lawsuits by former employees, both of whom are represented by the same law firm that represents Velez. Those suits also allege retaliation and a hostile work environment.
