Alexis Daniel, a former student on the Chattanooga women’s golf team for the University of Tennessee, has filed a lawsuit against the institution, the board of trustees members, and athletic department employees. 

Daniel has already completed two years, representing the collegiate women’s golf team. Now, she represents herself as a professional. 

But on 26 February 2026, she filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. She alleged that a mandatory, unsupervised, early-morning workout on 7 March 2026 left her with serious brain injury. 

As per Daniel, the mandatory session contradicted university policies and NCAA safety guidelines that prohibit unsupervised strength training for student-athletes. And if she skipped the session, she could have faced punishment and possibly lost her scholarship. Otherwise, she would have to perform “high-risk athletic maneuvers in a dangerous and unsupervised environment.”

Unfortunately, during the workout, Daniel got hit in the head that she claimed to be “severe and catastrophic.” And that reportedly caused a traumatic brain injury. She had a cut on her nose and a growing contusion on her head. And a headache made things worse. 

But why is she suing the school and the officials?

Reason Behind Alexis Daniel’s Lawsuit Against the University of Tennessee

Daniel claimed that she contacted an assistant athletic trainer the very next day. But she got no response from the trainer for more than 30 hours. And when the trainer did reach out, they allegedly admitted to saying, “We don’t need to do the whole stack.” 

In the end, she had to drive herself to the emergency room for medical care after more than 60 hours of the incident. She further had to travel back to Kentucky (her home state) for medical care that she had to cover out of her own wallet. 

Daniel emphasized that the university didn’t activate the NCAA concussion protocols. As a result, she had to manage the issues by herself through checklists for a few weeks. And the in-person clinical evaluation from the UTC medical staff came after 22 days of the injury. 

Furthermore, her access to sports medicine care, indoor golf team room, and training facilities was revoked after her injury. That violates Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Through the lawsuit, she also alleged that she was denied equal medical care and academic support that the universities provides its male students with head injuries. 

Alexis Daniel also alleged that the institution intentionally isolated her from team activities and communications. And in the end, she sought compensatory and punitive damages. 

However, UTC told Golfweek, "The University does not comment on pending litigation." We’d have to wait till the hearing to know the deeper end of the iceberg. 

Read more at Daily Club Golf!

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Joyita Das