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Northwestern, Coach Fitzgerald
Settle Lawsuit
Northwestern
University and former head coach Pat Fitzgerald separately announced on
Thursday that they have reached an agreement to settle Coach
Fitzgerald's lawsuit against the school for breach of contract and
other claims. The details of the settlement are not public and were not
announced; however, it appears that the settlement stipulated certain
wording in the university's announcement.
Northwestern's press release states, in part:
Northwestern's
number one priority is the health and safety of all members of its
community, including our student athletes. The University has taken
action to ensure hazing will not occur again, including new training
and additional steps for feedback and reporting.
While the litigation brought to light highly inappropriate conduct in
the football program and the harm it caused, the evidence uncovered
during extensive discovery did not establish that any player reported
hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or
directed any hazing. Moreover, when presented with the details of the
conduct, he was incredibly upset and saddened by the negative impact
this conduct had on players within the program. . .
Northwestern wishes Coach Fitzgerald the best in resuming his football career.
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It
is interesting that NU's statement mentions that there was no evidence
that any player reported hazing directly to Coach Fitzgerald and also
that Coach Fitzgerald did not "condone or direct" hazing. However, it
stops short of saying that Coach Fitzgerald was unaware of the hazing
or that he had not been made aware by someone beside a player, such as
an assistant.
The statement that Coach Fitzgerald's lawyers released includes this:
For
the past two years, I have engaged in a process of extensive fact and
expert discovery, which showed what I have known and said all along--
that I had no knowledge of hazing ever occurring in the Northwestern
football program, and that I never directed or encouraged hazing in any
way.
Through discovery, I learned that some hazing did occur in the football
program at Northwestern. I am extremely disappointed that members of
the team engaged in this behavior and that no one reported it to me, so
that I could have alerted Northwestern's Athletic Department and
administrators, stopped the inappropriate behavior, and taken every
necessary step to protect Northwestern's student athletes. . .
Though I maintain that Northwestern had no legal basis to terminate my
employment for cause under the terms of my Employment Agreement,
in the interest of resolving this matter and, in particular, to relieve
my family from the stress of ongoing litigation, Northwestern and I
have agreed to a settlement, and I am satisfied with the terms of the
settlement.
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