Attorney: Northwestern fired Fitzgerald for cause

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

  • Senior WriterJul 11, 2023, 07:08 PM ET Close College football press reporter.
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.EVANSTON, Ill.– Northwestern fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald for cause, his lawyer told ESPN on Tuesday, establishing a prospective legal showdown in between the College Football Hall of Famer and his alma mater.Attorney Dan Webb stated he interacted with Northwestern’s basic counsel, who

  informed him of the for-cause termination for Fitzgerald, who had actually led the group because 2006 and is a former two-time national protective player of the year at the school. University president Michael Schill fired Fitzgerald on Monday afternoon, mentioning a partially “broken “team culture following an investigation into hazing within the program.Webb is investigating legal strategies and has not submitted a lawsuit, but he pointed out” 2 different major breach of contract claims “with Northwestern as well as significant reputational damage.Northwestern has not informed Webb whether it is looking for to keep the remaining income on Fitzgerald’s 10-year contract checked in January 2021. Fitzgerald is owed more than$40 million from the school.Editor’s Picks 1 Related Webb informed ESPN that in addition to Fitzgerald’s employment contract

, Northwestern violated an oral agreement reached between the coach, Schill and the university’s general counsel recently. Northwestern on Friday announced a two-week, overdue suspension for Fitzgerald, one of several reacting actions after an examination into the hazing accusations found that the claims were “largely supported by the evidence.” The investigation from lawyer Maggie Hickey and the ArentFox Schiff company did not discover evidence that Fitzgerald or Northwestern’s other coaches knew about the hazing activities but that they had opportunities to find and report the behavior.”I can not comprehend how you might terminate someone for cause when they [Northwestern] confess that their own legal representative does not have any evidence that my customer ever understood anything at all, about any of the alleged hazing habits,”Webb said. “If I present that to a jury sooner or later, a jury is going have a tough time thinking that you can end someone for cause when they didn’t understand anything about [the events] “Webb stated Northwestern’s basic counsel, Stephanie Graham, validated to him that the school and Fitzgerald had consented to the two-week suspension in advance of Friday’s statement. He

included that Graham told Fitzgerald and his agent, Bryan Harlan, that”this is all there would be.”Northwestern decreased remark when asked about the oral arrangement and the thinking for Fitzgerald’s for-cause shooting.” Under Illinois law, an oral agreement is a contract, “stated Webb, a previous U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.” They had all the realities readily available to them. They believed the correct penalty was a two-week suspension without pay. That was their judgment. They decided. We consented to support it, and we provided a declaration to support them. “So, they’ve now breached an oral agreement and damaged his reputation immensely. And for no reason. This whole series of events by Northwestern, I can not understand it. “Webb contends Northwestern had”no brand-new information “between the initial two-week suspension for Fitzgerald and his shooting, noting that the hazing details reported Saturday by The Daily Northwestern mirrored what Hickey had actually been

told during the investigation.Webb is open to a resolution outside of court, but he also kept in mind the reputational damage Fitzgerald has actually sustained due to the fact that of his shooting.” There’s a substantial reputational problem that will become part of it,”Webb said.”If we were to proceed with lawsuits, it would be a large

damage case because he can claim loss payment for eight years left on his contract. And ten years in the future, he can’t replace it.

So, you’re speaking about a huge quantity of cash.”