Three Former Northwestern Baseball Staffers to Sue University, Former Coach

Three former Northwestern baseball staffers plan to file a lawsuit against the university Monday, alleging "retaliatory discharge, harassment, bullying and abuse" at the hands of former coach Jim Foster, per a Sunday afternoon release.

Foster was fired on July 13 after a report from Danny Parkins of 670 The Score in Chicago alleged that Foster “created a toxic environment that has run off coaches, broken the spirit of his team … and was the subject of an HR investigation.” Parkins cited nine sources in his report.

In the lawsuit, former assistant coaches Dusty Napoleon and Jon Strauss and former director of baseball operations Chris Beacom will allege that Foster created an environment so toxic that they did not want to travel with the team when its season began in February. When they raised these concerns with the athletic department, they allege they were subject to retaliation.

Foster and "select administrators" will also be named as defendants in the suit.

The Wildcats have been embroiled in an all-encompassing athletics scandal since early July, when reporting from the university's newspaper on a hazing scandal within the football program led to coach Pat Fitzgerald's dismissal.

Since then, the university, athletic department, Fitzgerald and administrators past and present have been named as defendants in a wide range of litigation.