Report: Golf Channel employees cite ‘environmental nightmare'

In a class-action lawsuit filed against Lockheed Martin, network employees claim they were exposed at their Orlando headquarters to ‘dangerous chemicals’ from nearby weapons-systems tests

Filed: By an Orlando, Fla., law firm, a lawsuit against defense contractor Lockheed Martin alleging, among other things, that Golf Channel employees were exposed to an “environmental nightmare” because of their proximity to the company’s nearby tests on missiles and other weapons systems. John Morgan, the founder of the Orlando-based personal-injury firm Morgan & Morgan, told the Orlando Sentinel for a story published Monday that his firm filed two complaints in federal court. One of the legal actions was a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 11 Golf Channel employees who worked at the company from 1994 to 2020 and complained that they were diagnosed with numerous ailments, including multiple sclerosis, brain lesions and cancer. The complaint alleges negligence on the part of Lockheed Martin at its location south of Orlando, in unincorporated Orange County. “For a period of many years, the people at Lockheed Martin were conducting tests on bombs, delivery systems and missiles, and those toxins escaped,” Morgan said. “... The essence of what our experts have told us that they believe happened is that these toxins were not properly disposed of, remediation was not properly handled and that these dangerous chemicals were placed into the air. And with that, over a period of time, a large number of people became sick, became deadly ill and actually died.” Lockheed Martin did not respond to the Sentinel’s request for comment. Golf Channel recently announced that it will move most of its Orlando operations to corporate parent NBC’s sports headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The announcement included the loss of most of the Orlando staff’s jobs. Golf Channel’s GolfNow and Golfpass divisions will continue to operate from Orlando.

Sign up to receive the Morning Read newsletter, along with Where To Golf Next and The Equipment Insider.