A group of former Northwestern University football players appear to have reached a settlement to resolve many of their lawsuits against the university for allegedly turning a blind eye to alleged hazing that took place under former Northwestern football coach Patrick Fitzgerald.
The so-called provisional settlement was announced on April 8 by attorneys from the firm of Salvi Schostok & Pritchard, of Chicago, who are representing many of the players in the legal actions.
The Salvi firm said the terms of the settlement are confidential.
Patrick Salvi II
| Salvi Schostok & Pritchard
A spokesperson for the firm declined to discuss the status of the litigation, including declining to answer questions from The Record concerning the extent of the settlement; how many athletes' cases may be included in the settlement; and if litigation against the university or other defendants may continue, should the settlement be finalized or approved by the court.
In a statement released by the Salvi firm, attorneys Patrick A. Salvi II, of the Salvi firm, and Parker G. Stinar, of Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, of Chicago, said:
“As was reported during a recent hearing, we have entered into a provisional settlement between our former student-athlete clients and Northwestern University.
"While the terms of the provisional settlement are confidential, we intend to continue to work through the remaining outstanding issues to finalize a settlement that will hopefully allow both sides to move forward in a positive way.”
The settlement comes nearly two years since the alleged hazing claims against Fitzgerald and his football program were first reported by the university's student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern.
In the wake of that reporting, dozens of lawsuits were filed against Northwestern on behalf of at least 50 football players.
All of the lawsuits accused the university and Fitzgerald of allegedly knowingly allowing players to be subjected to abusive sexualized and racially discriminatory hazing since at least 2014.
The scandal resulted in the university firing Fitzgerald in 2023.
Fitzgerald responded by suing the university for wrongful termination, seeking $130 million. That lawsuit remains pending in Cook County Circuit Court, as the two sides have sparred over demands from Fitzgerald and his lawyers to question university officials under oath, among other discovery disputes.
For now, however, Northwestern appears to have reached a deal to end players' lawsuits against the school.
The first of those lawsuits was filed in July 2023 by the Salvi firm, on behalf of a former player, identified in the complaint only as John Doe, who was a member of the Northwestern football team from 2018-2022.
Like the complaints that followed, Doe accused Fitzgerald of allegedly encouraging Northwestern players to haze freshman and other players, including participating in forced sexualized activities.
The announcement of the settlement comes as five former Northwestern athletes were set to head to trial this fall over their claims against the school.
A Salvi spokesperson declined to identify the players whose claims may have been first to go to trial in Cook County Circuit Court.
According to previously published reports, those five players may have included Noah Herron and Rico Lamitte.
In public statements in 2023, Herron and Lamitte, who are black, said they were allegedly subjected to race-based hazing and "punishments" by teammates and coaches, including allegedly being forced to cut braided or long hair, while white teammates were allegedly allowed to keep long hair, or being forced to participate in watermelon eating contests.