Judge Rejects Pat Fitzgerald's Request To Move Up Trial Date In Suit Against Northwestern

CHICAGO — An attorney for former Northwestern University football coach Patrick Fitzgerald, who sued over his firing amid last year's hazing scandal, failed to convince a judge to expedite a trial of his claims.

Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak set an April 2025 trial date, rejecting a request from Fitzgerald attorney Dan Webb to move the trial to December 2024.

At a remote court hearing on Monday, the judge said he hoped the lawsuit can be settled before reaching trial.

“I don’t think any party wins if this matter goes to trial,” Kubasiak said.

Fitzgerald wants at least $130 million from Northwestern and University President Michael Schill.

In his six-count civil suit, he alleges breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, false light and interference with a business expectancy.

Webb had argued that waiting until next year could prevent Fitzgerald, who was fired last July and sued in October, from being able to get another coaching job in the 2025 season.

"If he misses three seasons in a row," Webb argued, "it’s going to be significantly different.”

Fitzgerald has worked as a parent volunteer for the Loyola Academy football team since his firing. It could not be determined if he has applied to other jobs since suing his previous employer.

Webb, who was appointed U.S. Attorney in Chicago by Ronald Regan, more recently has served as the special prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett disorderly conduct case and represented Fox News in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit case that led the network channel to pay out a $787 million settlement over election-related lies.

Reid Schar, an attorney for Northwestern, said the outcome of the case will not necessarily determine whether or not Fitzgerald will be able to be hired as a football coach in the future.

Schar described a trial date of next spring as "aggressive" given the large number of documents involved, ESPN reported.

"He has chosen to pursue this litigation," Schar said. "And so, we have to pick a schedule that's actually achievable, not one that's defined by what he might want to do with the rest of his life but one that's actually achievable and fair to both parties, not just what he wants."

Kubasiak acknowledged that the timing of the trial was important to the former coach, the Associated Press reported, but the judge said he was "not sure I can necessarily allow that to dictate.”

After 17 years as head football coach, Fitzgerald was first handed a two-week suspension last summer following a confidential, university-financed investigation into allegations of hazing on the team.

Schill then said he "may have erred" and fired Fitzgerald — two days after the publication of details of hazing allegations, including coerced sexual acts, by The Daily Northwestern student newspaper.

"The hazing was well-known by many in the program," Schill said, in a statement at the time, "though the investigator failed to find any credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald himself knew about it."

Northwestern separately faces at least 10 lawsuits from former students over allegations of hazing in its athletic programs. The university also faces a pending federal civil rights complaint from a former cheerleader who accused it of sex trafficking, forced labor and Title IX violations, among other things.

The next status hearing for Fitzgerald's case is scheduled for April 2.

Both sides are then scheduled to have until July 31 to complete written fact discovery, with a deadline of Dec. 6 for motions for summary judgment, the Daily reported. The trial itself is currently scheduled for April 7, 2025.