The Southern Indiana District Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Indiana University and former athletic trainer Tim Garl, ruling that the statute of limitations has passed for the alleged sexual harassment reported by five former student-athletes.
In Oct. 2024, former members of the IU men’s basketball team filed a lawsuit against IU — and later Garl — alleging the school knew of the inappropriate behavior by former team physician Brad Bomba, and systematically mishandled complaints about Bomba’s frequent rectal examinations for years.
According to IDS News, the court this week sided with the plaintiffs that the two-year statute of limitations began when the examinations were conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, and not when the former student-athletes first realized the examinations constituted sexual harassment in 2024.
Related: More IU Basketball Alums Allege Sexual Misconduct by Former Team Physician
In making this ruling, Judge Tonya Walton Pratt relinquished supplemental jurisdiction, which will allow the defendants to re-file the Title IX suit in state court.
"We are disappointed in the Court's decision, but are taking time to weigh our options and make informed decisions about next steps,” said Haris Mujezinovic, one of the plaintiffs. Charlie Miller, John Flowers, and Larry Richardson Jr. were the other former student-athletes listed on the class action Title IX suit.
Related: Former Indiana University Team Doctor at Center of Abuse Investigation Dies
Bomba, the team physician at the center of the case, was not listed as one of the defendants, but he did provide a deposition in Dec. 2024, five months before his death in May 2025. During that deposition, Bomba pleaded the fifth to all 45 questions in the 75 minutes he was on the stand. Throughout the investigation, an 874-page report, containing hundreds of interviews, 100,000 documents and 10,000 emails, was compiled to fully vet the situation.
Indiana University has not released a statement on the ruling.
