The Northwestern University family is having a feud.
And it’s about to get nasty.
Longtime head football coach Pat Fitzgerald announced on Thursday (through an attorney based in Chicago) that he has filed a lawsuit against Northwestern for wrongful termination.
The lawsuit, according to an Associated Press story by Andrew Seligman on Thursday, was filed in Cook County Circuit Court against both Northwestern and President Michael Schill, and the first hearing involving the suit is December 7. The monies being asked for by Fitzgerald in the suit are $68 million in salary owed to the coach, and $62 million in lost income,
Fitzgerald, a former Wildcats player who was the institution’s head coach for 17 seasons, was fired on July 10 following an investigation into hazing in the football program. According to the AP story, the investigation did not find sufficient evidence that Fitzgerald and his coaches knew of the hazing, but that there were “significant opportunities” for them to be aware it was going on.
Shortly before Fitzgerald was fired, the student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, ran a story about accusations of hazing in the football program that also involved racism.
And Fitzgerald’s case is just one of a myriad of legal problems Northwestern faces right now, throughout its athletic program. Here’s just one: three days after Fitzgerald was dismissed, the university also fired baseball coach Jim Foster for what the AP story says were “allegations of a toxic culture that included bullying and abusive behavior.”
Fitzgerald was a linebacker for the Wildcats in 1995, the team that reached the Rose Bowl. Under Fitzgerald, the football team went 110-101 and he is the winningest football coach in the program’s history.
The university released a statement on Thursday concerning Fitzgerald’s legal action.
“As head coach of the football program for 17 years, Patrick Fitzgerald was responsible for the conduct of the program. He had the responsibility to know that hazing was occurring and to stop it. He failed to do so,” the statement reads. “…The safety of our students remains our highest priority, and we deeply regret that any student-athletes experienced hazing. We remain confident that the University acted appropriately in terminating Fitzgerald and we will vigorously defend our position in court.”
Fitzgerald’s attorney, Dan K. Webb, blasted the university in public comments of his own on Thursday.
“If there was ever — if there was ever — an athletic coach at Northwestern University that should not have been terminated, it’s Coach Fitzgerald,” Webb said. “The fact that he was terminated based on no rational reasons or facts whatsoever, the fact that they’ve gone out and destroyed his reputation as one of the best football coaches in America based on no legitimate reason or evidence is disgraceful, is despicable conduct on behalf of Northwestern.”
Following Fitzgerald’s dismissal, defensive coordinator David Braun was named the Wildcats’ interim coach.
The Wildcats host Howard this weekend, are currently 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 10’s West Division.
