Northwestern’s motion to dismiss the wrongful termination lawsuit brought by former coach Pat Fitzgerald was denied today, Fitz seeking $130MM.

[Some guy]

I will claim that many exist, but none of those had stories published about them.

I'm fine leaving it at that. Would I change your mind, any way, even if I disproved the "Every single AD.." claim?

I don't think that would change your mind that NW was in the right and that they correctly fired Fitz for cause. I believe you want that to be true. What I don't understand, is why.

Yes. I would change my mind that people firing anyone involved in hazing if you could find a single example of not firing the coach in charge of a program with hazing.

The fact Fitzgerald settled with an agreement that says there was hazing in the program is why he is gone.


I am sure he got a buyout far greater than zero. So I guess I disagree with your assessment of my position. I don’t think they ended up firing him for cause (meaning they had to pay him out to some degree imo)

 

[GopherGrit]

Yes. I would change my mind that people firing anyone involved in hazing if you could find a single example of not firing the coach in charge of a program with hazing.

The fact Fitzgerald settled with an agreement that says there was hazing in the program is why he is gone.


I am sure he got a buyout far greater than zero. So I guess I disagree with your assessment of my position. I don’t think they ended up firing him for cause (meaning they had to pay him out to some degree imo)

Changing your mind about everyone fires any coach that has hazing, isn't important.

What matters is if you think Fitz should have been fired simply because hazing occurred. And then the legal point is if such a thing rises up to a "for cause", if it was provable that he didn't know about it.

Very clear to me NW knew it would lose the legal case. That's why they settled.

The "moral" case, if you will ... I guess is more subjective.

 

[swede2]

Yes. I would change my mind that people firing anyone involved in hazing if you could find a single example of not firing the coach in charge of a program with hazing.

The fact Fitzgerald settled with an agreement that says there was hazing in the program is why he is gone.


I am sure he got a buyout far greater than zero. So I guess I disagree with your assessment of my position. I don’t think they ended up firing him for cause (meaning they had to pay him out to some degree imo)

If he was fired for cause it would be unusual to pay. If he was fired without cause he would be owed remuneration.

 

[caliGopher]

All you do is find one? Not all of them?
You are the one asking me to find all of them


Find one case of hazing where the coach is kept in the country and I am proven wrong

James Franklin was accused of allowing hazing at Penn State. There was an investigation. The results was inconclusive evidence that it happened and no evidence Franklin was aware of it. He was not fired or disciplined.

A few from High School:

Unnamed Coaches	Watertown High School (Massachusetts)	Suspended	Following the exposure of a long-standing hazing tradition at a football camp, three coaches and five players were suspended.
Unnamed Coaches	Sayreville High School (New Jersey)	Indefinitely suspended	After the arrest of seven players in connection with a hazing scandal, coaches were indefinitely suspended. However, many parents and players supported the coaches, arguing they were not at fault.

There are more rumors/allegations in college (even PJ got a little of that) but nothing were it was reported there was hazing and nothing was done about it.

 

[caliGopher]

One more for you, Hockey, not football.

• In September 2023, BGSU announced an investigation into an alleged hazing incident at an off-campus event involving multiple members of the hockey team: underage drinking, older team members providing alcohol to younger, plus potential conduct causing humiliation or emotional/physical harm. Bowling Green State University+2BG Falcon Media+2
• According to the university statement:
  

  “…the University’s review … suggests that no member of the BGSU Hockey staff had any direct or indirect knowledge of the off-campus event.” Bowling Green State University+1

• The coach, Ty Eigner, was placed on administrative leave during the investigation; the team underwent sanctions and the coach was reinstated once the review was complete. BG Falcon Media+1
• The university also announced additional oversight and training for the program as part of its response.

 

[Some guy]

James Franklin was accused of allowing hazing at Penn State. There was an investigation. The results was inconclusive evidence that it happened and no evidence Franklin was aware of it. He was not fired or disciplined.

A few from High School:

Unnamed Coaches	Watertown High School (Massachusetts)	Suspended	Following the exposure of a long-standing hazing tradition at a football camp, three coaches and five players were suspended.
Unnamed Coaches	Sayreville High School (New Jersey)	Indefinitely suspended	After the arrest of seven players in connection with a hazing scandal, coaches were indefinitely suspended. However, many parents and players supported the coaches, arguing they were not at fault.

There are more rumors/allegations in college (even PJ got a little of that) but nothing were it was reported there was hazing and nothing was done about it.

I mean links to these stories would have me more confident than AI copy and paste


I was not attempting to claim that nobody has ever survived being accused of hazing. These two high school cases would prove me wrong in what I said if they are accurate

 

[Some guy]

One more for you, Hockey, not football.

• In September 2023, BGSU announced an investigation into an alleged hazing incident at an off-campus event involving multiple members of the hockey team: underage drinking, older team members providing alcohol to younger, plus potential conduct causing humiliation or emotional/physical harm. Bowling Green State University+2BG Falcon Media+2
• According to the university statement:
• The coach, Ty Eigner, was placed on administrative leave during the investigation; the team underwent sanctions and the coach was reinstated once the review was complete. BG Falcon Media+1
• The university also announced additional oversight and training for the program as part of its response.

The link says the university made no final determination of the allegations

Meaning they did not determine that the allegations were true

 

[Some guy]

If he was fired for cause it would be unusual to pay. If he was fired without cause he would be owed remuneration.

Yeah. We will never know but logic would say they settled for somewhere between zero and the buyout number.
The fact that the settlement said northwestern could publicly state hazing did occur within the program tells me it likely wasn’t the entirely of the buyout they ended up paying. Or maybe it was. We will never know.

It certainly wasn’t more than the buyout. In the initial story northwestern never claimed Fitzgerald knew about the hazing. Meaning in the end the settlement allowed northwestern to allege exactly what they alleged the whole time.