Former Northwestern baseball coach hit with abuse suit by staff

EVANSTON, Ill. (CN) — Legal problems and abuse allegations for Northwestern University’s sports programs continued to mount Monday as three former baseball staff members filed suit over their former boss, ex-head coach Jim Foster, who allegedly created an “abusive, toxic and dangerous environment” for staff and student athletes.

The suit comes more than a month after student journalists at the university published damning testimonials of sexual hazing rituals in the football program at the Big Ten school.

Foster was with Northwestern for only one year, after the university hired him from Army West Point in June 2022. He led the team to a 10-40 record during the 2022-23 baseball season, during which time the plaintiffs say they were subject to his “bullying.”

“From the very beginning of Foster’s tenure at Northwestern, the plaintiffs were subjected to abuse and bullying by Foster while Northwestern continued to protect Foster — above the baseball staff, its student athletes and even its recruits,” says the suit, written by attorney Christopher Esbrook of the Chicago law firm Esbrook P.C.

Christopher Beacom, Northwestern’s former director of baseball operations, along with former assistant baseball coaches Michael Dustin Napoleon and Jonathan Strauss, accused Foster of exhibiting “volatile” behavior. In the suit, they say he discouraged student athletes from seeking medical attention for injuries, referred to other players with racist epithets, cursed staff in angry “tirades” and repeatedly asked them to violate NCAA rules by meeting with underage players.

The trio further claimed in the suit that they lost their jobs in retaliation for a complaint they lodged against Foster with Northwestern’s human resources department in November 2022. The university launched an investigation into Foster soon after and told plaintiffs in February that it had found “sufficient evidence to substantiate [their] allegations that Coach Foster engaged in bullying and abusive behavior.”

However, Northwestern did not dismiss Foster until July, as media coverage of the hazing scandal around former head football coach Pat Fitzgerald mounted. The university “relieved [Foster] of his duties” on July 13, only three days after it fired Fitzgerald and following the close of the 2022-2023 season. The three plaintiffs in Monday’s suit, meanwhile, were let go from the baseball program in June.

“Shockingly, Northwestern retaliated against the plaintiffs for coming forward with their horrific but truthful allegations against Foster by banishing them from the baseball program,” the suit claims.

Beacom, Napoleon and Strauss are now pursuing a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress against Foster, along with negligence, negligent hiring, fraud and breach of contract claims against Northwestern. The suit also names Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Derrick Gragg, Deputy Director of Athletics Monique Holland and Associate Athletic Director for Human Resources Rachel Velez as defendants. Each faces claims of negligent supervision and negligent infliction of emotional distress for allegedly turning a blind eye to Foster’s abuse.

“Northwestern was informed, on numerous occasions, and even via a formal HR complaint, of the incredibly detrimental impact Foster’s presence was having on Northwestern’s program and culture. Still, Northwestern did nothing,” the suit says. “Dr. Gragg and the university were only forced to take action when these issues came to public light via multiple media outlets and litigation involving the athletic department.”

In a statement to CBS News Chicago, a spokesman for Northwestern denied the trio’s claims that school staff had let Foster’s behavior slide. Stating the lawsuit “is without merit,” the spokesman said the university “intends to contest it vigorously.”

Since Foster’s departure, interim coach and former Chicago White Sox player Brian Anderson has led the university’s baseball program.

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