Former Northwestern football players to announce lawsuit with 'horrific incident details' on Monday
Updates at and surrounding Northwestern haven’t been positive in quite some time amidst the scandals in Evanston. Now, that trend will continue on into another week based on the latest reports regarding the Wildcats.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg shared news from a release earlier tonight that informed many that a lawsuit against the school would be coming tomorrow. As part of that suit, plaintiffs will be named while “horrific incident details” will also be included.
The hazing incidents within Northwestern’s athletic department have caused a wildfire at the university. It initially led to the firing of head football coach Pat Fitzgerald and led to the hire of DC David Braun as the program’s interim. It has also led to a handful of other lawsuits being filed against them.
The school has also seen an unfair labor complaint filed against them while a civil rights attorney has also been hired.
More reviews and more players are aiming right at Northwestern at this point. Still, it remains in the school’s hands to make this right, regardless of what comes out in this suit on Monday. It just might be the case where this matter continues to get a whole lot nastier for everyone involved before it gets any better.
How the latest revelations from Northwestern investigation change the outlook
A little more than a week after Northwestern fired Pat Fitzgerald in the wake of hazing allegations within the football program, the situation has taken many different turns. The latest came July 19 when multiple current and former university officials — including Fitzgerald and former athletic director Jim Phillips — were named in a lawsuit.
Northwestern is facing multiple lawsuits, and Phillips — now the ACC commissioner — is among the people listed as defendants. It not only shows the conversation around the university isn’t going away anytime soon.
It’s not just confined to just the baseball and football programs even after their respective coaching changes. Northwestern fired baseball coach Jim Foster after allegations of a toxic environment within the program.
Now that Phillips’ name is in the lawsuit, though, the impact of the situation beyond the Evanston city limits. Phillips released a statement Thursday denying allegations he “condoned or tolerated inappropriate conduct” at Northwestern.
“The other layer to this that makes it really interesting in terms of Jim Phillips, the ACC commissioner. It’s not just the football team,” On3’s Andy Staples said on Andy Staples On3 on Wednesday night at SEC Media Days. “There was an issue with the cheerleading team. Baseball just had one. And, apparently, there are a couple more sports that could get ensnared in this thing.
“That’s where Jim Phillips, who’s now commissioner of the ACC [and] is named in this lawsuit, this could come back to haunt him, as well.”
The second lawsuit, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, detailed racial discrimination as part of the allegations against the athletics department. That’s why On3’s Jesse Simonton said the conversation about what’s already a tough topic is changing even more. Add in the timing with Big Ten Media Days and it’s becoming an even bigger problem.
“The way this could really get — this is already extremely serious and a sensitive subject,” Simonton said. “But because several of these players are African American? And they have spoken up about how it was even more difficult for players of color? We are now broaching closer to a potential civil rights case or lawsuit that could also join this. What’s happening right now, we are in the very, very infant stages. But this is an ugly situation that this program is dealing with on the heels of Big Ten Media Days.”