Former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald is suing both the school and its president for wrongful termination after being fired in July over the program’s alleged hazing scandal, ESPN reported.
He is seeking $130 million for lost earnings in addition to punitive and reputational damages, ESPN reported.
“The lawsuit is a major lawsuit. We are claiming various charges against Northwestern and [university president Michael] Schill, including breaches of contract of two different contracts, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and claims for punitive damages to punish Northwestern and President Schill for the injustices that they have imposed and inflicted on Mr. Fitzgerald and his family,” attorney Dan Webb said, CBS News reported. (RELATED: ‘Dropping F-Bombs’: Nick Saban Goes The Hell Off On Literally Everybody Despite Blowing Out Mississippi State)
Multiple former Northwestern football players have filed lawsuits against the school since Fitzgerald was fired, alleging that the university was negligent in preventing racism, sexual abuse, and other dehumanizing acts in relation to hazing, the outlet reported.
New: Pat Fitzgerald has filed a lawsuit against Northwestern and president Michael Schill seeking more than $130 million in compensatory damages.
The claim is that the school’s report showed Fitz didn’t know about hazing, and NU violated written and oral contracts in firing him.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 5, 2023
Fitzgerald led Northwestern for 17 seasons and was a star linebacker for the Wildcats in the mid-1990s. He has maintained that he had no knowledge of the hazing. After being fired, Fitzgerald said that, alongside his lawyer and his agent, Bryan Harlan, he was working to “protect my rights in accordance with the law.”
“Student-athletes across a range of years corroborated these findings, showing beyond question that hazing – which included nudity and sexualized acts – took place on Fitzgerald’s watch. Since these findings were released, numerous former student-athletes have filed lawsuits against Fitzgerald and the University related to hazing they endured while on Fitzgerald’s team,” Northwestern said in a statement, CBS reported.
“We remain confident that the University acted appropriately in terminating Fitzgerald and we will vigorously defend our position in court.”