Tim Garl, who spent more than four decades as Indiana basketball’s trainer, has sued the IU Board of Trustees and athletic director Scott Dolson, accusing the school of age discrimination.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, centers on Garl’s claim that Indiana cut ties with him because of his age.
According to the suit, Dolson told Garl on March 26, 2025 that his employment was ending after 44 years because IU wanted a “fresh start” for the program. Garl had made a similar statement publicly in late March.
Garl says that before that conversation with Dolson, he had been discussing his role in the program with new IU coach Darian DeVries, along with an offseason training and recovery plan.
Indiana pushed back on the age-discrimination allegation by pointing to what it described as performance issues that started during Mike Woodson’s tenure as head coach. Woodson denies those deficiencies. In support of Garl, several IU players, from Calbert Cheaney to Trayce Jackson-Davis, said in a statement that the care they got from Garl was better than what they received in the NBA.
Garl’s exit also came while he was a defendant in a separate federal case against Indiana University involving allegations from former men’s basketball players that former team physician Brad Bomba engaged in improper sexual conduct. That case was dismissed earlier this year.
Garl and Dolson have both been part of the IU athletic world since the early 1980s. Dolson was once a student manager in the men’s basketball program while Garl was already there. By the time Garl left, the training room at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall carried his name.
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