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A pioneering football official is suing the National Football League for gender discrimination during his time in his role.
Robin DeLorenzo became one of the league’s first female officials in 2022, but was let go in 2025. DeLorenzo cited gender-based scrutiny, humiliation and open hostility among the indignities she suffered during her three seasons as a league official.
The lawsuit claims she was sent men’s-sized clothes to wear and told to let her ponytail show through the hole in the back of her hat, apparently to make it clear a woman was on the court. It said that repeated references to her hair eventually made her want to cut it off.
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NFL linesman Robin DeLorenzo gestures during the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
The lawsuit also alleges that an NFL official’s crew chief told former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin one day during training camp that she would be forced to sing in front of everyone, like rookie football players, because she was a new official. As a result, she said, she “put on a completely humiliating performance” in front of the Steelers’ players, all the men on her officiating crew and her boss, who she said had promised not to record her but did anyway, according to the lawsuit.
In the following weeks, she was repeatedly humiliated, harassed and subjected to profanity used by her crew chief, a man who had recently been accused of assaulting another female employee, the lawsuit said. By the end of the season, the crew chief wouldn’t even talk to her, it added.
In 2024, DeLorenzo was forced to participate in “an alleged training opportunity” over his union’s objection, which targeted lower-level officials learning the trade — something no male official had ever been required to do, the lawsuit said.
“It was a male power play that served the purpose of humiliating Plaintiff, shattering her self-confidence and significantly hindering her NFL career,” the lawsuit states.
Lineman Robin Delorenzo and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signal a first down in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. (Bob Donnan/Imagn Images)
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The NFL told The Athletic that DeLorenzo was terminated on February 18, 2025 “after three seasons of documented underperformance.”
“The NFL is committed to providing a fair and supportive environment for all of its game officials. … The allegations in this lawsuit are baseless and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them in court,” the statement said.
The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, filed Friday, sought reinstatement along with unspecified damages.
“She worked her way through two decades of functioning — breaking barriers, making history and exceeding expectations at every level — only to be met with hostility, retaliation and systemic inequality the moment she stepped into a league that claims to champion women’s empowerment,” the lawsuit states.
NFL linesman Robin DeLorenzo during the Arizona Cardinals game against the Chicago Bears at State Farm Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
“Instead of supporting one of the only women on its staff, the NFL subjected her to uncontrolled harassment, denied her the resources given to men, manipulated her training and grading opportunities and ultimately ended her career based on tainted evaluations created by the very people who discriminated against her,” the lawsuit states.
