Former Northwestern baseball staffers planning to file lawsuit Monday
A new lawsuit will be filed against Northwestern on Monday, this one from former members of the Wildcats baseball coaching staff. The Athletic‘s Brian Hamilton reports that the lawsuit alleges “retaliatory discharge, harassment, bullying and abuse” that led to the demotion and non-renewal of contracts of assistant coaches Dusty Napoleon and Jon Strauss, as well as director of baseball operations Chris Beacom.
The complaint says that the two coaches and Beacom faced “unwarranted retaliation” after reporting NCAA violations from coach Jim Foster to university officials. Those include allegations of “racism, sexism and egregious tortious conduct.” Northwestern launched a three-month investigation and ultimately decided to “handle the matter internally.”
This led to Napoleon and Strauss feeling unsafe and expressing they did not want to travel with Foster to away games during the 2023 season. They were both demoted from their positions on the coaching staff as a result and did not have their contracts renewed at the end of the season.
Foster was fired in July for creating a “toxic environment” within the program. He spent just one year as the program’s head coach, leading them to a 10-40 record after previously serving as the head coach at Army from 2017-22.
Napoleon had been with the Wildcats baseball team since the 2016 season, serving as both the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Beacom had been with the team since 2020 before stepping down from his role in February. Strauss was supposed to enter his first season as Northwestern’s pitching coach in 2023 after spending the past seven seasons at Baylor.
Of course, the lawsuit against the baseball team is simply the latest of several the athletic department is dealing with. The majority of the lawsuits have come against the football team and coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired this offseason as well. Those lawsuits all highlight multiple allegations of hazing and abuse within the program.
The Northwestern volleyball program is dealing with a lawsuit filed by a former player against head coach Shane Davis and others regarding an injury she suffered during an alleged hazing incident. On Friday, an unnamed former Northwestern women’s lacrosse player filed a lawsuit alleging she was raped by a current member of the baseball team.
In light of the claims of hazing across multiple sports, Northwestern launched two external reviews into its athletic department. Former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch will lead one review looking into the culture of the athletics department. The other review will focus on how officials detect threats and assesses accountability.
“Hazing has absolutely no place at Northwestern. Period,” Northwestern president Michael Schill said in a statement. “I am determined that with the help of Attorney General Lynch, we will become a leader in combating the practice of hazing in intercollegiate athletics and a model for other universities. We will provide all of our students with the resources and support they need and do whatever is necessary to protect their safety and ensure that our athletics program remains one we can all be proud of.”