Crime & Law
Ex-Northwestern Football Players Expected to Settle Hazing Scandal Lawsuit Against University, Coach Pat Fitzgerald
(Joe Hendrickson / iStock)
A group of former Northwestern football players who sued the university following allegations of a yearslong hazing scandal under ex-head coach Pat Fitzgerald is expected to settle their lawsuit.
According to a university spokesperson, settlement documents are currently being finalized after Northwestern and the former student athletes recently engaged in a mediation process that resulted in the agreement.
“The settlement would fully resolve the student plaintiffs’ claims against Northwestern and Fitzgerald,” Northwestern spokesperson Jon Yates said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
Patrick Salvi II of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. and Parker Stinar of Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC — who represent former football players who filed suit — confirmed Tuesday their clients had entered into a “provisional settlement” with Northwestern.
“While the terms of the provisional settlement are confidential, we intend to continue to work through the remaining outstanding issues to finalize a settlement that will hopefully allow both sides to move forward in a positive way,” the attorneys said in a statement.
Fitzgerald, who led the Wildcats football team for 17 seasons, was initially suspended by the university for two weeks, then fired in July 2023 following reporting that a player said he’d seen “egregious and vile and inhumane behavior” as part of an extensive hazing scandal that allegedly took place under the coach’s watch.
The player said some of that hazing involved coerced sexual acts — allegations that a second player also recounted to The Daily Northwestern student newspaper — and that Fitzgerald may have known that hazing took place.
From there, numerous former players filed lawsuits against both Northwestern and Fitzgerald.
After receiving an allegation of hazing late 2022, Northwestern hired attorney Maggie Hickey to investigate. That investigation did not find sufficient evidence that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing, but Hickey did find that there were “significant opportunities” to find out about and report the conduct.
According to The Daily Northwestern, the player described a hazing activity he referred to as “running,” which was used to punish players for mistakes made during games or practice. When this occurred, the selected player would be restrained by several upperclassmen wearing “Purge-like” masks, who would begin “dry-humping” the player in a dark locker room, The Daily reported.
Fitzgerald, who has maintained his innocence, also filed suit against the school in October 2023 claiming he’d been “wrongfully and illegally terminated.”
While the proposed settlement would resolve the players’ lawsuits, Yates said it would not affect Fitzgerald’s ongoing suit. His attorneys have claimed the former coach “committed no wrongdoing.”
“Despite extensive written and testimonial discovery, there remains no evidence to show or suggest that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of any hazing at Northwestern,” Fitzgerald’s attorneys Dan Webb and Matthew Carter said in a statement. “He continues to assert that Northwestern illegally terminated his employment, violated an oral contract, and defamed him, causing significant damage to his sterling reputation.”
Fitzgerald’s trial on his lawsuit remains scheduled for Nov. 3.
