The fallout from the hazing scandal that rocked the Northwestern soccer program continued Tuesday when a former participant filed a lawsuit naming ex-Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald and different faculty leaders as defendants. The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of the previous participant, who’s recognized as John Doe, according to Associated Press.
Additionally named as defendants are Michael Schill, president of Northwestern College, the varsity’s board of trustees, and athletic director Derrick Gragg. The lawsuit alleges they hid sexual misconduct and racial discrimination. The prosecution performed for the Wildcats from 2018-22.
A number of different former gamers have additionally employed high-profile authorized advisers within the wake of the scandal that led to Fitzgerald’s firing on July 11. Fitzgerald was initially handed a two-week suspension on July 8 following a months-long impartial investigation into allegations of hazing throughout the program. However as extra particulars of the allegations got here to mild by means of reporting Through The Daily Northwest, Schill introduced that he would evaluation Fitzgerald’s sentence. In the end, that led to the firing of this system’s all-time win chief and certainly one of its longest-serving Energy 5 coaches. Days later, Northwestern baseball coach Jim Foster was additionally fired halfway by means of allegations of abuse.
Tuesday’s lawsuit targets your entire athletic division, with lawyer Parker Stinar telling the Related Press that “it is a tainted athletic division.”
“It wasn’t only one unhealthy actor,” says Stinar told the AP. “It wasn’t restricted to at least one crew, just like the soccer crew. It additionally included a tradition that was accepted and tolerated and inspired within the baseball crew and different sports activities groups, in addition to in males’s and ladies’s sports activities.”
In a letter addressing Northwestern college and workers, Schill mentioned he’s “restricted in discussing particulars” of the method. Nonetheless, he introduced two extra impartial opinions to judge the varsity’s accountability mechanism and its potential to detect threats to student-athletes.
“I’m writing to you right now to present you my dedication that I’ll proceed to do no matter is important to deal with this case and make sure that our athletics program stays one that you could be happy with and that’s absolutely aligned with and our displays values,” Schill wrote. “Equally necessary, I promise you that we are going to redouble our efforts to guard the well-being of each student-athlete at Northwestern.”
Fitzgerald’s lawyer Dan Webb issued a statement in response to the lawsuit:
We realized right now of a grievance filed by John Doe in opposition to Northwestern College president Michael Schill, athletic director Dr. Derrick Gregg, the Northwestern Board of Trustees and coach Patrick Fitzgerald. The grievance cites the identical nameless allegations outlined in a July 8, 2023, newspaper article. As an alternative of really making detailed factual allegations about Coach Fitzgerald’s conduct, the grievance accommodates quite a lot of broad and sweeping allegations “primarily based on info and perception” with out mentioning any particular details or proof. The grievance has no validity with respect to Coach Fitzgerald and we are going to aggressively defend these allegations with details and proof.
Nothing in John Doe’s cost appears to contradict the conclusions of the months-long investigation led by lawyer Maggie Hickey – that Coach Fitzgerald had no data of any type of hazing throughout the Northwestern soccer program. As soon as once more, we sit up for defending Coach Fitzgerald and taking all vital steps to guard his authorized rights, identify and fame.
Northwestern elevated freshman defensive coordinator David Braun as interim coach for the 2023 season because the Wildcats attempt to get better from a 1-11 season. Braun, linebacker Bryce Gallagher, defensive again Rod Heard II and receiver Bryce Kirtz will symbolize this system on the Massive Ten Media Days in Indianapolis on July 26.
