Report: Pat Fitzgerald, attorneys expected to announce multimillion dollar lawsuit against Northwestern
The ongoing legal situation between former football coach Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern saw another development on Wednesday. According to a report from college football insider Matt Fortuna, Fitzgerald’s attorneys are expected to announced a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the school in a news conference at 10:30 a.m. CT on Thursday.
Fitzgerald will not be in attendance at the press conference, per ESPN’s Adam Rittenburg.
Fitzgerald was fired this offseason in the midst of a hazing scandal that resulted in several lawsuits against the university, and even Fitzgerald himself, from former players. The school fired Fitzgerald for cause but, according to his contract, he was still owed $40 million.
Attorneys Dan Webb and Matthew Carter of Winston & Strawn LLP will represent the former coach. Webb first addressed the situation shortly after Fitzgerald’s firing in July, citing “two different major breach of contract claims.” He also told ESPN at that time that Northwestern violated both Fitzgerald’s employment contract and an oral agreement with the coach, which is considered a contract under Illinois law.
In July, Northwestern initially announced Fitzgerald would be suspended for two weeks without pay in the summer after an internal investigation into hazing among the football team. After details of the hazing started to become public, Northwestern quickly reversed course and fired Fitzgerald.
“I cannot understand how you could terminate someone for cause when they (Northwestern) admit that their own lawyer does not have any evidence that my client ever knew anything at all, about any of the alleged hazing behavior,” Webb said. “If I present that to a jury someday, a jury is going have a hard time believing that you can terminate someone for cause when they didn’t know anything about (the incidents).”
In the wake of Fitzgerald’s firing, Northwestern discovered what it deemed a “toxic environment” in other athletics programs. Baseball coach Jim Foster was fired as a result, and the university launched an outside review of the athletic department by former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Some Northwestern athletes and coaches have come out in support of Fitzgerald. Coaches were seen in August wearing shirts that read “Cats against the world” and had the No. 51, Fitzgerald’s number when he played for the Wildcats on them.
In a letter obtained by ESPN, 86 former Northwestern athletes including several of Fitzgerald’s former teammates signed the letter criticizing administrators.
“By willfully ignoring due process, Northwestern University’s administration has left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism accusations to run rampant at Northwestern University,” the letter read. “Any allegation, true or not, will be allowed to cancel anyone’s career and destroy their reputation depending upon popular opinion, while simultaneously allowing the censorship of free speech.
“The collective gains of Northwestern’s Athletic Department over the last three decades, along with Pat Fitzgerald’s legacy and character, have almost been wiped out without any proof of guilt or, much less, even a thorough and proper investigation.”
Fitzgerald was the coach at Northwestern for 17 seasons, leading it to a 110-101 record in that span.