Players suing Indiana appealing District Court decision to dismiss case

Players suing Indiana appealing District Court decision to dismiss case

BLOOMINGTON — The former Indiana basketball players who filed a lawsuit against the school alleging mistreatment by former team physician Brad Bomba Sr. have appealed the recent District Court decision dismissing the case, per a release from their attorney Kathleen DeLaney.

A federal judge issued an order on April 1 dismissing the class action lawsuit on grounds the players’ claims were subject to a two-year statute of limitations that long-since passed. The other state law complaints in the lawsuit filed were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.

The plaintiffs had a right to appeal the ruling to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals within 30 days.

Former IU players, including Haris Mujezinovic, along with Charlie Miller, filed the lawsuit in Oct. 2024, alleging they were "routinely and repeatedly" subject to "medically unnecessary, invasive and sexually abusive rectal examinations" by basketball team physician Dr. Brad Bomba Sr.

Mujezinovic and Miller were joined in the lawsuit by fellow former Indiana players John Flowers and Larry Richardson Jr. in subsequent filings with the court. Garl, who was Bomba’s supervisor at the time of the alleged incidents, was added as a defendant in the case.

"I continue to be amazed that Indiana University has not taken ownership of this problem like Michigan State, Penn State, and to some degree Ohio State did," Mujezinovic, said in Thursday's press release. "Nobody disputes what happened to us, yet they refuse to fix the problem.”

Indiana hired Jones Day, an international law firm with experience in sensitive investigations, to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations. Those findings were released to the public last May in the form of an 874-page report.