Editor’s Note: This story includes potentially triggering situations, including sexual assault.
Former Indiana men’s basketball head trainer Tim Garl filed a suit Tuesday against the Indiana University Board of Trustees and IU Athletic Director Scott Dolson. The suit alleges wrongful termination and age discrimination against Garl, who was released from his position March 31, 2025.
The federal lawsuit will be heard by the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division.
The lawsuit alleges the university admitted it fired Garl “because of his age,” — a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Garl first became the men's basketball head trainer in 1981 under head coach Bob Knight. Even after Knight’s dismissal in 2000, Garl stayed on staff, holding the position under the next five head coaches until the end of his 44th season in 2025 at age 68.
The suit alleges Dolson informed Garl that IU was terminating his employment because “IU wanted a ‘fresh start’ in his position.” The news was a shock to Garl, according to the suit, since he had spoken with then-incoming head coach Darian DeVries “regarding an offseason training and recovery plan for incoming players,” as well as Garl’s role on staff.
Garl’s newly filed lawsuit against the university alleges that IU refused until August 2025 to “defend and indemnify" Garl, a public employee, in a lawsuit in which he is a co-defendant, while the suit was filed in January 2025. IU is still failing to “fully pay the reasonable attorneys’ fees” to Garl, according to the suit.
On Jan. 14, 2025, Garl was named as a co-defendant alongside the IU Board of Trustees in an amended lawsuit filed by former Indiana men’s basketball players.
The original suit, filed Oct. 15, 2024, alleged that former team physician Brad Bomba Sr. performed invasive and abusive rectal exams, and the university “systematically manhandled” players’ complaints. The amended suit alleged Garl assigned players to Bomba Sr. knowing that Bomba Sr. would sexually assault them.
On March 31, 2026, a federal judge dismissed the suit on grounds that the federal claims were filed well after the two-year statute of limitations. On April 16, the plaintiffs appealed the decision, and the appeal will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago.
IU spokesperson Mark Bode stated IU does not comment on litigation.
