CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s golfer has filed a federal lawsuit against the university, its Board of Trustees, and multiple athletic department officials, alleging she suffered a catastrophic traumatic brain injury during an unsupervised mandatory workout and was subsequently denied medical care.
Alexis Daniel alleges in the lawsuit that on March 7th, 2025, she was required to attend a mandatory early-morning workout at a campus athletic facility despite being told no staff member would be physically present to supervise the session.
According to the lawsuit, Daniel and a teammate arrived at the facility to find it unlocked but unstaffed, with no athletic trainers or strength personnel present.
The lawsuit claims the unsupervised workout violated NCAA and university safety mandates prohibiting athletes from using weight room facilities without certified staff present.
Daniel alleges she was placed in a “Catch-22” situation: either skip the workout and risk athletic punishment and potential loss of scholarship, or complete high-risk exercises without supervision.
During the workout, the lawsuit says she allegedly sustained a severe blow to the head, resulting in a traumatic brain injury.
The lawsuit further alleges that the following day, as her symptoms worsened, Daniel contacted an assistant athletic trainer seeking medical guidance due to escalating neurological symptoms.
According to the lawsuit, she did not receive a response for more than 30 hours and ultimately drove herself to an emergency room while neurologically impaired.
Daniel contends that university staff failed to activate NCAA concussion protocols and instead required her to manage her symptoms remotely through self-reporting checklists for weeks.
The lawsuit alleges she did not receive an in-person clinical evaluation from UTC medical staff until March 29th, 22 days after the injury.
In addition to claims of medical negligence, the lawsuit asserts violations of Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Daniel alleges she was denied equal medical care and academic support compared to male student-athletes with head injuries and that her athletic facility access and team communications were revoked following her injury.
The lawsuit also claims the university applied an unsolicited “athletic housing scholarship” credit to her student account in an attempt to limit liability, despite her not accepting or signing any scholarship agreement.
Daniel is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief requiring reforms to UTC’s sports medicine oversight and Title IX compliance procedures.
She has requested a jury trial.
We reached out to UTC for a statement. They told us…
“We can not comment on pending litigation.”