By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) – The Northwestern University football coach who was fired for allegedly failing to stop the hazing and bullying of football players on Thursday sued the school for $130 million, saying the claims were false and destroyed his career.
Patrick Fitzgerald, who was fired in July, claims he had no knowledge of hazing and lost his job even though the Evanston, Illinois school found no evidence that he had engaged in any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit, which also names Northwestern President Michael Schill as a defendant, was filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.
Jon Yates, a spokesperson for Northwestern, said Fitzgerald was responsible for the football program and failed to prevent hazing.
“The safety of our students remains our highest priority, and we deeply regret that any student-athletes experienced hazing,” Yates said.
Fitzgerald was a star linebacker for Northwestern in the 1990s and over the last 17 years became the most successful football coach in the school’s history, including leading the team to divisional championships in 2018 and 2020.
Northwestern suspended Fitzgerald without pay for two weeks in July after a months-long internal investigation. He was told there would be no further punishment, according to Thursday’s lawsuit, but was then fired after a student newspaper ran a story about the alleged hazing.
The article said freshman players were forced to strip naked and crawl in front of the team, or forced to rub up against a line of naked men while getting sprayed with a hose.
Northwestern in August said it had hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct an independent review as the school faces mounting lawsuits alleging harassment and hazing in its football program.
Fitzgerald accused Northwestern and Schill of breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims.
He is seeking $130 million in lost income along with damages for emotional distress and punitive damages.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Josie Kao)
