On the tail of Northwestern University’s firing of coach Pat Fitzgerald over alleged hazing cases, a group of former Wildcats players have engaged a Chicago law firm that includes civil rights attorney Ben Crump to launch a lawsuit against the school, a report says.
Eight ex-players have secured the services of Ben Crump and Levin & Perconti, a Chicago law firm, to pursue legal actions against the school over more hazing they allege occurred to them during their tenure on the school’s football team.
The lawyers claim they discovered “a vast array of incidents of abuse,” according to ESPN.
“Whether the coaches at Northwestern approved or participated in the harassment of these players or not, they are responsible for allowing and enabling a toxic, disgusting, and damaging culture in their programs,” attorney Crump said in a statement. “Sadly, our research suggests that this kind of abuse of student-athletes may be far more common on college campuses than we know, because there is tremendous pressure to keep quiet. It’s time for a reckoning to protect young athletes.”
Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald speaks to his team after the Aer Lingus College Football Classic 2022 match between Northwestern Wildcats and Nebraska Cornhuskers at Aviva Stadium on August 27, 2022, in Dublin, Ireland. (Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)
Levin & Perconti said that it has received “dozens” of complaints of hazing at the school’s football program and added the lawsuit will like balloon past the original eight clients as those allegations are investigated. The firm also said that other sports programs at the school will also likely be included as the case progresses.
Two weeks ago, the school released its report on the allegations and found them credible.
The university immediately suspended head coach Pat Fitzgerald but only days later went ahead and fired the coach over the developing scandal.
As the scandal grew, head baseball coach Jim Foster was also accused of “bullying and abusive” behavior. He was hit with claims that he made “an inappropriate comment regarding a female staff member and spoke negatively about his staff to other staff members.”
Northwestern University head baseball coach Jim Foster heads back to the dugout for a game against the University of Notre Dame at Wrigley Field in Chicago on May 16, 2023. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Another lawsuit has already been filed by the Salvi law firm in Chicago.
A former player filed the suit on Tuesday as John Doe against coach Fitzgerald, Northwestern University President Michael Schill, the board of trustees, and athletic director Derrick Gragg.
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