Inside The Panthers

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips Named in Northwestern Lawsuit

The commissioner of the ACC is a defendant in a lawsuit against Northwestern University.
Stephen Thompson|
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips Named in Northwestern Lawsuit
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips Named in Northwestern Lawsuit

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PITTSBURGH -- The commissioner of the Pitt Panthers' league has been named in a lawsuit against Northwestern University and it's leaders filed by a former football player. 

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who worked as Northwestern's athletic director from 2008 to 2021, is a new defendant in a complaint that alleges university leaders, including coaches, knew of and were negligent in addressing hazing practices within multiple of the school's sports programs, according to a report from ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. 

This second complaint, which names Phillips as a defendant, comes after eight Northwestern athletes retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti to file a lawsuit that alleges "physical, sexual and emotional abuse" stemming from hazing incidents that took place inside the football program. The group of players has since grown to 12 after the announcement of the lawsuit. 

These allegations stem from an article released in The Daily Northwestern, the school's independent student newspaper, earlier this month which details disturbing claims that hazing within the football program included sexual and physical abuse and that head coach Pat Fitzgerald was aware of such practices. A separate report from other former Wildcats alleges a culture of racism against black and latino players. 

Northwestern hired a law firm to investigate these claims and found that while current and former players “varied on their perspective” regarding the conduct, the whistleblower’s claims were “largely supported by evidence.” The report went on to say that, while it did not find sufficient evidence that the coaching staff knew of ongoing hazing, “there had been significant opportunities to discover and report the hazing conduct.”

Fitzgerald was hit with a two-week, unpaid suspension after the results of the investigation were released. He has since been fired, along with head baseball coach Jim Foster. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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