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Attorneys representing former Northwestern football players in their lawsuit against the University won a motion Tuesday to consolidate with former coach Pat Fitzgerald’s lawsuit for discovery purposes.
Attorneys said in a statement that the goal is to avoid parties seeking the same information from repetitive sources and witnesses in separate court cases.
While this motion solely focused on discovery, attorneys expect to make a separate request to have a single jury hear both cases at once, according to the director of public relations at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard Marcie Mangan, the firm representing the students.
The players alleged in the lawsuit they were subjected to racial discrimination, hazing, physical abuse and retaliation while on the NU football team. Fitzgerald, who is suing the University for breach of contract and defamation, was fired after some of these allegations became public.
“Both the hazing litigation and the Fitzgerald lawsuit name Northwestern University, and all cases have multiple overlapping issues, most notably the nature and extent of the alleged abuse and the action (or inaction) of Northwestern University,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in a statement.
They added that the allegations of abuse cited in the students’ suit are the same allegations that began the momentum leading up to Fitzgerald’s termination.
The University declined to comment on the pending litigation.
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