Ex-Northwestern OC taking legal action against school for disparagement

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

• Senior WriterJul 12, 2024, 06:51 PM ET Close College football reporter.
• Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008.
• Graduate of Northwestern University.Former Northwestern offending

planner Mike Bajakian is suing the school for disparagement and spreading out incorrect info for its actions throughout the hazing scandal that rocked the program last summer.Bajakian, who was fired in December and now works as an offensive expert at Utah, named Northwestern, university president Michael Schill and athletic director Derrick Gragg in his lawsuit, submitted Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court. His claim states that Schill’s choice to fire coach Pat Fitzgerald, simply days after announcing a two-week suspension for the coach and the findings of its own external examination into hazing claims, cast Bajakian and other employee” in a false and misleading light. “Although Fitzgerald was the only football staff member fired in July 2023, Bajakian claims that the university’s reaction”

created, perpetuated and encouraged a false and deceptive narrative” about his conduct and others on the staff, and was just performed in response to heavy media pressure. Bajakian served as Northwestern’s offensive planner for the previous 4 seasons after holding organizer and/or quarterbacks coach functions with Boston College, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee, Cincinnati and Central Michigan.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated According to the suit, Bajakian lost the opportunity to have his contract restored, could not land equivalent employment and suffered reputational damage. Northwestern decreased to talk about the suit. David Braun, who was called Northwestern’s irreversible coach in November after serving in an interim role, made several personnel modifications following an 8-5 season. Northwestern ranked 120th nationally in backyards and 129th in scoring throughout Bajakian’s tenure.Bajakian’s claim also concentrated on Gragg’s August 2023 statement criticizing staff and team members for using a Tee shirts that check out”Felines against the World”and consisted of Fitzgerald’s jersey number(51)at the school. The suit declares Bajakian observed the Tee shirts at team practices or workouts throughout late July and early August that Northwestern administrators attended without raising any objections. According to the lawsuit, Bajakian used the T-shirt at a team practice and had a discussion with Gragg, who revealed no opposition.But two days later, after pictures of Bajakian and others wearing the Tee shirts appeared on social media throughout a football practice open to media members, Gragg provided a statement calling the shirts” unsuitable, offensive and tone deaf

.”Gragg claimed that he nor the university had any knowledge of the t-shirts. He did not call Bajakian publicly.” Derrick Gragg openly maligned Michael Bajakian’s character and reputation, and misled the public through his incorrect declaration, and has actually triggered real damages,”Bajakian’s suit reads.Fitzgerald has filed a$ 130 million wrongful termination suit against Northwestern, which

likewise deals with lawsuits from lots of former professional athletes for hazing and mistreatment.