Thomas Walsh was a long-time groundskeeper in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area. His family claims his leukemia, which took his life 12 years ago, was caused by maintaining golf course greens, tees and fairways using powerful pesticides. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed that the Walsh family’s medical experts will be allowed to testify at trial.

A groundbreaking civil case involving a long-time groundskeeper and superintendent at golf courses in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area will proceed, thanks to a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, KDKA reported.

The case is being brought by the family of Thomas Walsh, who died 12 years ago at age 56 of leukemia, KDKA reported. He spent much of his career maintaining golf course greens, tees and fairways using powerful pesticides. Among them was the former Alcoma Country Club in Penn Hills, Pa. where Walsh worked for more than two decades.

C+RB first reported on the lawsuit in 2016.

Walsh is the father of KDKA sports anchor Rich Walsh, who along with his family, is suing several major chemical companies claiming that Tom Walsh’s leukemia was caused by chemical exposure, KDKA reported.

“I miss my dad,” Rich said. “I wish he was here. No one deserves to die that young.”

For the past decade, the Walsh family has waged a David-versus-Goliath legal battle against a dozen major chemical companies including Monsanto, Dow Chemical and Bayer, KDKA reported.

“We’re David. We’re a small family taking on these huge multi-billion-dollar companies. It’s taken a long time, but people are seeing now what these chemicals can do,” Rich said.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides of the lawsuit in October of 2019, KDKA reported.

“My dad was 56-years-old when he died. He had nothing wrong with him,” Rich said.

Thomas Walsh used powerful pesticides like RoundUp to maintain golf courses in the area when he worked as superintendent, KDKA reported. He died more than 12 years ago from leukemia. A lawsuit was filed against the chemical companies involved, claiming his cancer was caused by the pesticides.

In 2018, a panel of Superior Court judges ruled that the Walsh family’s medical experts will be allowed to testify at trial, KDKA reported. A trial court judge previously ruled that the family’s experts should not be allowed to testify. A panel of three Superior Court judges reversed that opinion, allowing the suit to proceed with the expert testimony.

The decision was then appealed to the Supreme Court, where they affirmed the Superior Court’s decision, KDKA reported. According to attorney Michael D’Amico, the case is landmark.

“Today is a win for the Walsh family and a win for any plaintiff in the commonwealth that is sick, suffering from any kind of cancer, from toxic exposure. It’s the Supreme Court saying ‘you will have a voice,’” said D’Amico, adding they’re in it for the long run.

He told KDKA there are other cases around the country that raise the issue of the toxicity of individual pesticides and their ability to cause disease in humans. But, as far as he knows, this is the first of its type in Pennsylvania, and perhaps the first in the nation to question what happens when a human is exposed to multiple pesticides.