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A football pioneer is suing the National Football League for gender discrimination during her tenure.
Robin DeLorenzo became one of the league’s first female officials in 2022, but was fired in 2025. DeLorenzo cited sexist scrutiny, humiliation and open hostility among the indignities she suffered during her three seasons as a league official.
The lawsuit alleges she was sent men’s sized clothing and told to let her ponytail show the hole in the back of her hat, apparently to make it clear that a woman was on the field. He said repeated references to his hair eventually made him want to cut it.
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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 claims that a team leader of NFL officials once told former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin during training camp that she should 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 totally humiliating singing 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 so anyway, according to the lawsuit.
Over the next several weeks, she was humiliated, harassed and subjected to crude and crude remarks by her team leader, a man who had recently been accused of mistreating another female employee, according to the lawsuit. By the end of the season, the crew chief wouldn’t even talk to him, he added.
In 2024, DeLorenzo was forced to take “a so-called training opportunity,” over the objection of her union, which was aimed at lower-level university officials learning the trade — something no male official had ever been forced to do, according to the lawsuit.
“This was a male power play that was intended to humiliate Plaintiff, break her confidence, and significantly hinder her NFL career,” the lawsuit states.
Linesman Robin Delorenzo and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signal for 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 fired 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 contained in this lawsuit are without merit, and we will vigorously defend against them in court,” the statement said.
The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, filed Friday, sought reinstatement as well as unspecified damages.
“She navigated two decades of officiating – breaking barriers, making history and exceeding expectations at every level – only to encounter hostility, retaliation and systemic inequities the moment she entered a league that purports to champion opportunities for women,” 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 its only female officials, the NFL exposed her to unchecked harassment, denied her resources afforded to men, manipulated her training and grading opportunities, and ultimately ended her career based on tainted evaluations created by the same people who discriminated against her,” the lawsuit states.
