Northwestern Retaliated Against Staff Who Reported Fired Baseball Coach: Suit

EVANSTON, IL — Former Northwestern University staffers say they lost their jobs in retaliation for raising the alarm about former baseball coach Jim Foster, months before he was fired this summer amid scrutiny of its athletic department.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Cook County Court, Northwestern's former director of baseball operations, Chris Beacom, and former assistant baseball coaches Dusty Napoleon and Jon Strauss allege that they were bullied by Foster from the time of his June 2022 hiring.

Beacom, Napoleon and Strauss accuse Foster of creating a toxic environment for students and staff, with frequent yelling, racially insensitive and sexist remarks, attempts to deny appropriate medical care and requests for staff members to violate NCAA recruiting rules.

According to the coaches' complaint, Foster advised a player on how to pitch to a batter he described as the "Chinese kid" and said he did not want a woman manager on the field to avoid "the guys staring at her ass." It does not contain other allegations of racism or sexism, and the complaint makes no specific allegations about when or who Foster allegedly discouraged from seeking medical attention.

The coaches say they began formally reporting Foster to administrators last October and submitted a complaint through the university's human resources department on Nov. 30, 2022. They allege the resulting HR investigation failed to interview any student athletes or medical professionals.

In February, Northwestern Senior Human Resources Business Partner Tracy Walker sent letters to Napoleon and Strauss informing them that there was enough evidence to substantiate allegations that Foster "engaged in bullying and abusive behavior, made an inappropriate comment regarding a female staff member, and spoke negatively about his staff to other staff members."

But the investigation did not substantiate the allegations of racially insensitive remarks or discouraging players from seeking health care.

On the same day that university officials issued the letters partially substantiating their complaints about Foster, Athletic Director Derrick Gragg told Beacom, Napoleon and Strauss they would not be coming back to work, according to their suit.

"Shockingly," it said, "Northwestern retaliated against the Plaintiffs for coming forward with their horrific but truthful allegations against Foster by banishing them from the baseball program."

Beacom said he, Napoleon and Strauss could not stand by while Foster put students and staff at risk.

"We reported coach Foster's conduct to Northwestern believing that they would do the right thing. Northwestern did not do the right thing. Instead, they swept our reports under the rug, putting their staff, student athletes and reputation at risk," Beacom said Monday at a news conference with his attorneys.

"Northwestern stood by coach Foster and got rid of the coaches that blew the whistle on him, and only when the media found out about coach Foster's abuse did Northwestern choose to do something."

Foster was finally fired three days after university officials reversed course and canned former football coach Pat Fitzgerald, leading to more than a dozen lawsuits alleging misconduct in the program.

The 24-page complaint filed Monday on behalf of Beacom, Napoleon and Strauss alleges breach of contract, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraudulent inducement.

The former coaches claim Gragg should have vetted Foster better before hiring him, suggesting he had "an established and well-known reputation as a bully" during his time at West Point. Instead, the hiring process was instead reportedly "pawned off" to two Northwestern boosters.

"We think that discovery is going to show that there is a there is long evidence that coach Foster engaged in this conduct in prior jobs, and that Northwestern failed to do the appropriate diligence on coach Foster before they hired him," said their attorney, Chris Esbrook. "Honestly, this was not a mystery that coach Foster engaged in this kind of behavior. If Northwestern was doing its job, it should have known this, and it shouldn't have hired him and it shouldn't have put Mr. Beacom and his colleagues in this kind of position."

Beacom, a former Northwestern baseball player himself, said the problems with sports at Northwestern go beyond a single team.

"Institutions are only as strong as the people who run them," he said. "And unfortunately in this case the people running, in particular, the athletic department, are not strong."

Patch has requested comment from a Northwestern spokesperson. The story will be updated with any response.

Related:

• Northwestern Athletic Director Slams Staff For 'Tone Deaf' Shirts
• Hazing Claims 'Highly Suspect', Ex-Northwestern Coach Says
• Northwestern Baseball Coach Foster Fired Over Bullying Claims