One of the NFL’s first three female referees sued the league and two officials on Friday, alleging gender-based scrutiny, humiliation, and unequal treatment during her time as a referee.
Plaintiff Robin DeLorenzo worked in the NFL from 2022 up until her termination in February 2025. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages, as well as reinstatement of her role as an NFL referee.
DeLorenzo, who refereed Big Ten football before joining the NFL, said she was “graded through a system built and controlled by men who had fixated on her gender from day one,” and that she was “denied the support and development routinely afforded to male officials.”
The NFL called the allegations “baseless” in an email to Front Office Sports on Wednesday.
“The NFL is committed to providing a fair and supportive environment for all of its game officials. Ms. DeLorenzo was terminated following three seasons of documented underperformance,” the league said in its statement. “The allegations in this lawsuit are baseless, and we will vigorously defend against them in court.”
One of the specific instances DeLorenzo alleges as discriminatory behavior includes former senior vice president of officiating Walter Anderson advising her to make sure a ponytail showed through the hole in the back of her hat, so that she could look more feminine or “stand out as being a token female on the field.”
The lawsuit says that the NFL “silenced complaints” from DeLorenzo. In one instance, after she reported Anderson’s comments about her hair, official John Hussey is accused of telling DeLorenzo, “Who do you think you are? You are to listen to the boss, and are you crazy?”
DeLorenzo also alleges that she was asked to sing at the Steelers’ training camp in her first season in the NFL, which the suit says is considered a rite of passage for rookie players. She said she “put on an utterly humiliating singing performance,” and that Anderson, who was present, video-recorded her even though he had promised not to.
The lawsuit claims that during the 2023 season, the NFL forced DeLorenzo “with threats” to attend a “training opportunity” meant to help lower-level officials learn the rules of college football. The suit describes that request as a “male power play that served its purpose of humiliating [Plaintiff].” DeLorenzo also said she was treated unfavorably compared to male officials when she was graded for her performance, with those grades playing a role in her termination.
Neither the NFL Referees Association nor DeLorenzo’s attorneys at Vladeck, Raskin & Clark P.C. responded to Front Office Sports’s requests for comment.
