Northwestern issues statement in response to latest lawsuit against baseball program

Northwestern University is pushing back against a lawsuit filed by former baseball staffers, including assistant coaches Dusty Napoleon and Jon Strauss, plus director of baseball operations Chris Beacom.

They alleged that they were treated poorly by former head coach Jim Foster after informing the school of violations he had committed. Ultimately, Northwestern decided to handle that matter internally, but that didn’t stop the harassment from Foster towards the other staffers.

As last season began, the coaches refused to travel with the head coach to away games, which led to their roles within the athletic department being diminished and their contracts not getting renewed — decisions that sparked the lawsuit.

Shortly after the news the suit would be filed, Northwestern issued the following statement, as provided by Adam Rittenberg:

“This lawsuit is without merit and the University intends to contest it vigorously. When the athletic director and University were first made aware of complains about Coach Foster, the University immediately initiated a human resources investigation. The assistant coaches and director of operations received full support from the University, they were paid for their full contracts and, at their request, were allowed to support other areas of our athletic department as needed. Coach Foster has been relieved of his duties.

“In this instance and other, the athletic director and department acted promptly and handled the complaints in accordance with established University policy and protocols.”