Ex-Northwestern players settle alleged hazing lawsuit against school, former head coach Pat Fitzgerald: report
The group of former Northwestern football players have reportedly agreed to settle their lawsuits against the school, which alleged hazing and abusive behavior.
The former players agreed to drop all claims against both Northwestern and ex-head coach Pat Fitzgerald as part of the settlement, Bloomberg reported.
Fitzgerald was suspended by Northwestern in July 2023 after an ex-player of his reported alleged hazing in November 2022. The school conducted its own investigation, and though no evidence was found of Fitzgerald or his staff knowing of such hazing, it found he had opportunities to report hazing conduct.
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A statement was released on Tuesday by Fitzgerald's attorneys, Dan Webb and Matthew Carter, which focused on evidence that their client "committed no wrongdoing." Also, Fitzgerald is moving forward with his wrongful termination lawsuit against Northwestern.
"Coach Fitzgerald learned yesterday that Northwestern University and certain former Northwestern football players have finalized a global settlement agreement to dismiss all claims made by the players against Northwestern and Coach Fitzgerald," the attorney's statement read, via The Inside Zone.
"Despite extensive written and testimonial discovery, there remains no evidence to show or suggest that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of any hazing at Northwestern. The discovery has thus confirmed what Northwestern said through President Michael Schill both before and after Coach Fitzgerald's termination: that there is no evidence that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of any hazing and that, despite a thorough and months-long investigation, Maggie Hickey found no credible evidence to believe Coach Fitzgerald, or any other coaching staff, knew about any alleged hazing.
"While the settlement resolves the claims brought by the players, Coach Fitzgerald's claims against Northwestern remains. 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 was initially suspended two weeks in 2023, but he released a statement claiming he had no knowledge of any hazing. Northwestern players even released a statement defending their coach, while Schill admitted he might have been wrong in suspending Fitzgerald.
But more former players came forward with racism allegations, which ultimately led Schill to fire Fitzgerald altogether.
Fitzgerald filed a wrongful termination lawsuit months after his firing, claiming that he and Schill reached an oral agreement that he would face no further punishment from the university after the two-week suspension.
Fitzgerald was seeking $130 million in damages as part of his lawsuit.
His next court date in his trial against Northwestern is currently scheduled for Nov. 3, 2025.
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