Fitzgerald accused in suit submitted by ex-player

• Dan Murphy Close Dan Murphy ESPN Staff Writer Covers the Big Ten Signed up with ESPN.com in 2014 Graduate of the University of Notre Dame Adam Rittenberg Close Adam Rittenberg ESPN Senior Citizen Writer College football press reporter. Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.Jul 18,

  2023, 09:38 AM ET Previous

• Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald, university president Michael Schill and athletic director Derrick Gragg are listed

as offenders in a claim submitted Tuesday early morning by a previous Wildcats player who said the program and its leaders were irresponsible in allowing hazing inside the team’s locker room.The claim also notes the university, its board of trustees and previous president Morton Schapiro as offenders. The player submitted anonymously, however the suit says he was a member of the team

from 2018 through 2022. His lawyers, Patrick Salvi and Parker Stinar, said they have talked to other former Northwestern players and expect additional football players and Northwestern athletes from other sports to sign up with the lawsuit in the coming days and weeks.Stinar said he and Salvi represent numerous Northwestern football players and have actually talked to approximately a lots professional athletes who completed at the school in the past 15 years. He stated the player who filed the suit Tuesday went through hazing that included sexualized acts and racial discrimination.Along with including plaintiffs in the near future, Stinar and Salvi informed ESPN they might also add offenders as they learn more information about the case– including existing ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who worked as Northwestern’s athletic director throughout the majority of the time that the alleged hazing took place.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated”It appears like the athletic department as a whole was culturally polluted in a manner that allowed hazing, sexual harassment, [

. and] racial discrimination,”Stinar said.Tuesday’s filing comes one day after a separate group of eight previous Northwestern players revealed that they meant to pursue legal action versus the school. Those professional athletes are represented by civil liberties lawyer Ben Crump and the Chicago-based law firm of Levin & Perconti. They have not yet submitted a claim however plan to do so, likely with extra plaintiffs, lawyer Steve Levin told ESPN.The claim filed Tuesday alleges that Fitzgerald “participated in the harassment, hazing, bullying, assault, and/or abuse of athletes,”including the plaintiff.Fitzgerald has consistently stated he had no understanding of hazing within the program and did not motivate it.

“Instead of making real comprehensive accurate claims about Coach Fitzgerald’s conduct, the complaint makes a range of broad-based and sweeping allegations’upon information and belief,’without citing any specific realities or proof, “Dan Webb, Fitzgerald’s attorney, said in a declaration.

“The grievance has no credibility regarding Coach Fitzgerald and we will strongly defend against these claims with realities and evidence. “The university said it would not talk about pending lawsuits. “Safeguarding the welfare of every student at Northwestern University is central to our mission and something we approach with the utmost severity,” the school said in a declaration.”When the University was made aware of anonymous hazing complaints in November 2022, we acted

right away with an independent detective to conduct an extensive evaluation of the accusations. We have taken a variety of subsequent actions to eliminate hazing from our football program, and we will present additional actions in the coming weeks. The administration is dedicated to working along with the Board of Trustees, the faculty, and the student body to make sure that hazing has no location at Northwestern.”Northwestern fired Fitzgerald recently, ending his 17-year tenure as head coach, after information of group hazing routines were exposed in a July 8 story by The Daily Northwestern trainee paper. In December, the university employed a law office, ArentFox Schiff, to examine the football program after a player raised concerns at the end of the 2022 season. The player said he wished to report “an exceptionally troubling and vile hazing scenario, “according to an e-mail he sent out the school that was recently gotten by ESPN.On July 7, Northwestern released an executive summary of the investigation’s findings, and suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay as part of a number of restorative measures. Schill announced the next day that he would think about stronger discipline for Fitzgerald.On July 10, Schill published a letter to reveal Fitzgerald’s firing. In it, he revealed that 11 existing or previous players told ArentFox Schiff’s private investigators that hazing that “included forced involvement, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature” happened in the football program. He said private investigators did not discover any reputable proof that showed Fitzgerald learnt about the hazing.Fitzgerald retained attorney Webb for a possible wrongful termination lawsuit versus the school.Gragg, who took over as Northwestern’s athletic director in June 2021, has actually not made any public remarks considering that Fitzgerald was fired. He did publish a statement when Fitzgerald was at first suspended July 7 that said:”Northwestern Sports prides itself on supplying a first-rate student-athlete experience, that includes a safe and respectful environment for all of our students, coaches and personnel. We respect the courage of the people who came forward to make us familiar with the concern, and we vow to do our part to develop a more positive environment progressing.”Northwestern has not shared a copy of the complete detective’s report publicly. Stinar said he expects a legal fight to figure out if the school, a personal university, has to share the report’s findings throughout discovery for their lawsuit.According to Tuesday’s claim, the complainant will seek damages in excess of $50,000.