Former coach and school sued by ex-Northwestern University football player
By Michelle Watson, CNN
(CNN) — An unidentified former member of the Northwestern University football team is suing the school and the recently fired head coach, according to a civil claim filed Tuesday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
The suit alleges former coach Pat Fitzgerald “enabled a culture of racism and/or other microaggressions on the Northwestern football team,” and that the university’s football program “has had longstanding issues involving hazing and bullying that takes on a sexual and/or racist tone.”
The plaintiff, identified as “John Doe,” was a member of the football team from 2018 to 2022.
The lawsuit also names Michael Schill, the school’s president; the school’s former president; a vice president for athletics and recreation at the school; and the university’s board of trustees as defendants.
Last week, Northwestern announced it fired Fitzgerald after allegations of hazing within the Wildcats football program. The decision was effective immediately, according to a letter from Schill to the Northwestern community.
A former Illinois inspector general began conducting an independent investigation into the football program last year after an anonymous email address sent a complaint at the end of the 2022 season, according to an executive summary of the investigation made public by the university.
The investigation revealed 11 players, past and present, said hazing was ongoing in the program, according to Schill.
Schill said in the letter the investigator didn’t find “any credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald himself knew about it.”
Fitzgerald issued a statement Friday that he was “disappointed” to learn of the hazing allegations.
On Tuesday, a representative for Fitzgerald told CNN they had no comment on the allegations spelled out in the suit.
A spokesperson for the university, Jon Yates, told CNN in an email, “As policy, we do not comment on the specifics of pending litigation.”
Yates added that protecting the welfare of students is “something we approach with the utmost seriousness.”
He added the university had acted immediately when it learned of the hazing complaints in November.
“We have taken a number of subsequent actions to eliminate hazing from our football program, and we will introduce additional actions in the coming weeks,” Yates said. “The administration is committed to working alongside the Board of Trustees, the faculty, and the student body to ensure that hazing has no place at Northwestern.”
The law firm representing “John Doe,” is set to hold a news conference Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT., according to a news release.
Separately, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Monday in a news release that he and co-counsel Steven M. Levin are representing eight former student-athletes who were allegedly “subject to hazing, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at Northwestern University,” and who claimed “forced participation in humiliating acts and racial bias” and “punishments that inflicted severe physical discomfort and psychological trauma.”
CNN has reached out for more information about Crump’s representation of these former athletes, and whether the suit has been filed.
Crump and Levin have a news conference set for Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT.
The-CNN-Wire
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