Lisa Cornwell was at her parents’ house in Fayetteville in January when she dialed into a popular golf podcast called “No Laying Up.” Her lawyer was on the line with her.
“If you do this, you’re all in,” he’d told her beforehand.
“That’s where I want to be,” she answered.
Cornwell, a former anchor and reporter for the NBC-owned Golf Channel, wanted to talk about her seven years working there. In 2020, she had filed a complaint with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination and retaliation before leaving the network. Now, over the course of an hour-long interview, she alleged publicly being unfairly berated by male bosses, sidelined for standing up for colleagues and forced out for speaking up about her treatment.
Her comments ricocheted around both the network and the world of golf, a sport with a well-documented history of struggling to include both women and minorities.
Many of those women then spoke out on their own. In interviews with The Washington Post, 16 former and two current employees echoed Cornwell’s concerns, describing sexism, misogyny and harassment they have endured at the network.
Golf Channel has disputed Cornwell’s claims in a response to the EEOC. An NBC spokesman, Greg Hughes, said in an email that the network is “vigorously defending this matter.”
Presented with a list of allegations made by other women, Hughes disputed many of their claims and said “the vast majority” had been investigated and that “appropriate action was taken.” Others, he said, the network was only now hearing of and would investigate “promptly and thoroughly.” The network declined to make any employees available for interviews.
Many of the women spoke anonymously, citing fear of breaking the nondisclosure agreements they signed in exchange for severance when leaving the network and their future job prospects. Hughes said that former employees interested in speaking publicly could contact Golf Channel to be released from confidentiality agreements, but several women said they did not feel comfortable doing that.
“Golf Channel is committed to providing a workplace where all employees are treated equitably and respectfully, and regularly conducts training to support that goal,” Hughes said.
Golf Channel went on the air in 1995, offering fans a 24/7 cable network dedicated entirely to the sport. Arnold Palmer was a co-founder, and within a few years the network, based in Orlando, secured the rights to broadcast a number of PGA Tour events. Comcast eventually became the full owner.
Some women working at the network faced trouble from the beginning, according to court records and interviews with multiple longtime former Golf Channel employees.
At least six lawsuits were filed against Golf Channel related to sexual harassment, pay discrimination or unpaid wages between 1996 and 2009, all of which were settled by the network, court records show. In one early case, an employee alleged that the network’s executive producer masturbated in front of two women. Another included a claim that on her first day of work, a woman opened her computer to find an image of a nude woman.
Hughes declined to comment on allegations that happened before NBC took over in 2011. After that, a new president, Mike McCarley, and executive producer, Molly Solomon, were installed. McCarley announced last month that he will step down as president this spring. Solomon remains in the same role.
“As the first female executive producer of a national sports network, I’ve strived, alongside a passionate group of leaders, to create a work environment that values inclusion, opportunity and excellence,” she said in a statement.
But even after Solomon’s arrival, problems of inappropriate behavior by men at the office persisted, at times interfering with women’s ability to work, several former employees alleged.
Several women told The Post the network was part of a larger culture in golf that sidelines women. That included multiple instances of women not being allowed in certain areas of private golf clubs with their male colleagues during shoots because club rules restricted where women could go.
The network’s male-driven culture stunted some women’s careers in broadcasting, former employees said. Jen Johnson, who worked in production from 2011 until last year, said she earned less than male colleagues and was asked by a higher-up whether having kids would negatively affect her career at Golf Channel. Hughes said the higher-up was disciplined at the time, and Johnson did not raise concerns about pay disparity to the network.
Haley Zagoria, a former college golfer, worked in marketing for Golf Channel in 2016 and 2017. At one point, she said, she applied for an open job working on social media. When she didn’t get it, she said, she was told by senior director Mark Summer, who she said interviewed her, that it was because the job would be in “a masculine environment.” A man was hired for the opening, she said, and she later left the network.
Reached by a reporter, Summer, who is no longer at the network, declined to hear any allegations made against him and declined to comment. Hughes stressed that Summer did not have final say on the hire.
Amid the growing #MeToo movement of 2017, a group of female staffers at the Orlando office were invited to a meeting. The meeting fell, by chance, on the same day Matt Lauer, the NBC anchor accused of sexual assault, was fired.
Three women who attended said they remember it being organized by Solomon and that they felt excited to talk about the network’s toxic culture. NBC’s Hughes disputes that, saying the meeting was called by Dan Overleese, a vice president of production.
Whoever called it, Overleese’s involvement made some women uncomfortable because he routinely berated women in the office, according to the three women and emails, reviewed by The Post, that one of the women wrote at the time. At the meeting, the women said, Overleese spoke about advancing women’s careers and lauded women who worked for him in a way he had never done previously and would never do again.
“We were dumbfounded,” one said. “It was like we couldn’t say anything.”
Overleese, who is no longer with Golf Channel, denied ever berating women in the office.
“It wasn’t toxic or a hostile work environment,” he said. “From a leadership team perspective we put a lot of effort into trying to make that the case.”
Cornwell learned to play golf at Fayetteville Country Club, winning state titles and playing in junior tournaments around the country. She played for the University of Arkansas and was a 2019 inductee into the Arkansas State Golf Association Hall of Fame. Cornwell never turned pro, but she found her way to broadcasting. She joined Golf Channel in 2014, hosting a weekday news show and reporting from women’s majors. She thought she was becoming more visible at the network, until she wasn’t.
According to her EEOC complaint, Cornwell’s troubles began at a dinner in Eugene, Ore., in 2016. Her boss, Mark Summer, was speaking in front of employees and making fun of an on-air talent who battled anxiety. Cornwell stood up and suggested it wasn’t appropriate.
Two years later, Cornwell said she was harshly rebuked by another colleague, former PGA Tour player Brandel Chamblee, for making a small mistake on the air.
Cornwell spoke to a senior executive after the incident with Chamblee, according to the EEOC complaint, because it was not the first time she had been dressed down by a male colleague. After that, she said, she began losing assignments, despite what she says were positive performance reviews. She then spoke with NBC’s compliance department, according to her EEOC complaint, because she did not trust Golf Channel’s human resources department.
At the end of 2019, she was demoted from staffer to freelance, with her salary cut in half. In March 2020, she filed her complaint with the EEOC. She stayed at Golf Channel through the end of last year, when the network didn’t renew her contract.
“I love golf and it was a dream job,” she said. “I loved being out on the tour. I didn’t want to give that up without fighting for it.”
Hughes declined to comment on the allegations made in the EEOC complaint, which is still pending. But in its written response to the EEOC, Golf Channel argued that Cornwell was given a three-year contract extension after the dinner in Eugene. The network investigated her complaints in 2018 and found no wrongdoing. The network said budget constraints caused her to be moved from staff to freelance.
Golf Channel moved most of its operations from Orlando to NBC’s main sports complex in Stamford, Conn., last year. As part of the restructuring, the network laid off a number of Orlando-based employees. Cornwell, meanwhile, is waiting for the EEOC to rule. The commission could bring a case on her behalf against Golf Channel, or she could be issued a right-to-sue letter and bring a lawsuit against the network. Whatever the outcome, she said, she hopes there is a better future for women at her former network.
“She’s fighting the good fight,” said Jen Johnson, the former Golf Channel employee. “I’m thankful she’s brought this as far as she has.”