Three former staff members with Northwestern University’s baseball program filed a lawsuit Monday morning that accuses the university of failing to protect them and players from “an abusive, toxic and dangerous environment” under now-former head coach Jim Foster.
“We reported Coach Foster’s conduct to Northwestern believing that they would do the right thing. Northwestern did not do the right thing,” Chris Beacom, former team operations director, said in a statement read during a news conference Monday announcing the lawsuit.
“Instead,” he continued, “they swept our reports under the rug, putting their staff, student-athletes and reputation at risk.”
Beacom and two former assistant coaches, Dusty Napoleon and Jon Strauss, are suing the university, Foster, athletic director Derrick Gragg, deputy athletic director Monique Holland and associate athletic director for human resources Rachel Velez.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County court, is the latest in a growing number of legal challenges facing the university and its beleaguered athletics department in the wake of a football hazing scandal that expanded to allegations of abuse and bullying on other teams.
Foster, who joined Northwestern last year after six years at Army West Point, was relieved of his duties in July, days after the Chicago Tribune and others reported on the controversy surrounding his first season as head coach.
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The trio’s lawsuit claims that Northwestern hired Foster despite having “an established and well-known reputation as a bully,” and despite abuse and misconduct allegations during his tenure at West Point.
Officials with Army West Point’s athletics department did not respond to emailed questions from the Tribune about Foster’s time there.
“Honestly, this was not a mystery that Coach Foster engaged in this kind of behavior,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Chris Esbrook. “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, Napoleon and Strauss claim in the lawsuit that Foster launched into expletive-laced tirades, referred to a player at a high school weekend camp as the “Chinese kid,” and said that a female team manager should not be on the field because he didn’t want “the guys staring at her ass.”
It also accuses Foster of repeatedly asking staff to circumvent NCAA rules, and of trying to deny medical care to players.
Foster did not return a voicemail seeking comment. Former teammates and players who previously spoke to the Tribune called him a great leader and a mentor — a teacher, tough, but fair, who cared deeply about his teams.
“He was by far the best coach I’ve ever had,” said Josh Nestor, 39, who played for Foster in 2005 and 2006 while at the University of Rhode Island.
Northwestern, meanwhile, issued the following statement:
“This lawsuit is without merit and the University intends to contest it vigorously. When the athletic director and the University were first made aware of complaints about Coach Foster, the University immediately initiated a human resources investigation. The assistant coaches and director of operations received full support from the University, they were paid for their full contracts and, at their request, were allowed to support other areas of our athletic department as needed. Coach Foster has been relieved of his duties.
“In this instance and others, the athletic director and department acted promptly and handled the complaints in accordance with established University policy and protocols.”
The three staff members say they reported Foster’s behavior to Northwestern in October 2022 and eventually filed a human resources complaint the next month. But, the suit claims, the three men did not hear from HR for two months, during which time Foster learned about the complaint “and was free to retaliate against the men as he saw fit, while happily maintaining the abusive and toxic workplace in which he thrived.”
The lawsuit also claims that the men’s repeated emails to Northwestern about the deteriorating environment on the baseball program largely went unanswered.
Northwestern eventually concluded its HR investigation in February, finding “sufficient evidence” that Foster “engaged in bullying and abusive behavior,” according to an internal HR document obtained by the Tribune. The probe went on to conclude that Foster “made an inappropriate comment regarding a female staff member, and spoke negatively about his staff to other staff members.”
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The investigation did not find enough evidence to support complaints that Foster made racially insensitive comments and discouraged players from seeking medical attention. However, the men claim in their lawsuit that the university’s probe did not interview players or medical personnel.
That same month, Napoleon, the team’s hitting coach and recruiting coordinator who had been with the team since 2015, left before the first game of the season. By the time the team returned from that opening road trip, Strauss — in his first year as pitching coach — and Beacom, who played for Northwestern in the 1980s, had also left the team.
The lawsuit claims that all three men were told they would not be returning at the end of their contracts.
Foster was officially removed as head coach on July 13.
“Nothing will ever be more important to Northwestern than providing its students a place that allows them to develop in the classroom, in the community, and in competition at the absolute highest level, and building a culture which allows our staff to thrive,” Gragg said at the time. “This has been an ongoing situation and many factors were considered before reaching this resolution. As the Director of Athletics, I take ownership of our head coaching hires and we will share our next steps as they unfold.”
Northwestern has since hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to lead a sweeping review of athletics department culture and the university’s ability to identify and respond to potential misconduct in its athletics programs.
As for the baseball team, its future remains murky. Multiple players hit the transfer portal following last year’s tumultuous 10-40 season. A recent Inside NU report said that acting head coach Brian Anderson, a former Chicago White Sox player who was part of the 2005 World Series winning team — will not be the head coach for the 2024 season. And last week, a Northwestern lacrosse player filed a federal negligence lawsuit claiming that the school was warned about a baseball player whom she accuses of sexually assaulting her.
