Former Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald Suing The School For Over $130 Million, Following His Firing Over Hazing Scandal

Former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald is suing his former employer for $130 million, as part of a wrongful-termination lawsuit.

The announcement was made by attorney David Webb, and the lawsuit was filed in Cook County, Ill., on Thursday. Fitzgerald claims that Northwestern breached his contract when he was fired. He is suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and punitive damages by Northwestern.

Amid widespread allegations of hazing within the football program, Fitzgerald was initially suspended for two weeks, without pay. But after a report from the The Daily Northwestern was released, the school decided to fire him just a short time later.

Fitzgerald's attorney discussed how they came to the figure of $130 million.

"That's what he and his family are going to suffer and experience out of pocket," attorney David Webb noted. "What that includes is $68 million dollars, which would've been the remainder of his contract. If they would've kept him on the job like they should've, that's what they would have paid him. I don't think a jury will have any trouble awarding that. We're gonna put an expert witness on the stand who's gonna say he's not gonna work again, ever again.

"So we calculated, the law says you can go into the future and calculate economic damages if you're going to experience them."

The are asking for $62 million in punitive damages.

"Disgraceful, despicable conduct on behalf of Northwestern, and my client and his family are entitled to their day in court," attorney David Webb noted.

How We Arrived At This Point For Northwestern, Pat Fitzgerald

Pat Fitzgerald had been the head coach at Northwestern for 17 years, taking over at his alma mater in 2006. The school initiated an investigation this past January, with the report stating that the hazing "included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature."

There have been at least 13 lawsuits filed by former Northwestern players regarding the hazing incidents that occurred. The school released a statement Thursday morning before the press conference, in-part stating that Fitzgerald "had the responsibility to know that hazing was occurring and to stop it, but failed to do so."

Now the question is how far does this go down the judicial system before each side potentially talks about a settlement. The fact that the lawsuit was filed should be enough proof that the lawyers for Pat Fitzgerald don't see a compromise coming.

In regards to Pat Fitzgerald's firing at Northwestern, his attorney noted that all of the coaches at the school, his client should still be there.

"If there was ever an athletic coach at Northwestern University that should not have been terminated, it was Coach Fitzgerald,"