Pioneering female NFL official sues
league over her treatment and firing
[April 01, 2026]
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new lawsuit, one of the first three women to
officiate an NFL game describes her three years at the pinnacle of
her profession as a descent into the grip of a sexist institution
unable to treat a woman as an equal.
Robin DeLorenzo cited gender-based scrutiny, humiliation and open
hostility among the indignities she suffered from 2022 to 2025 as a
league official.
The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, filed Friday, sought
reinstatement along with unspecified damages.
Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesperson, said in an email that DeLorenzo
was terminated after three seasons of documented underperformance.
“The allegations in this lawsuit are baseless, and we will
vigorously defend against them in court,” he said.
A message seeking comment from the NFL Referees Association was not
immediately returned.
In a 2023 interview with NFL.com, DeLorenzo described her thrill at
progressing at her father's urging through the ranks of officiating
at the high school and college levels until the NFL's senior vice
president of officiating allowed her father to deliver the news to
her that she had been promoted to the NFL.
“Once he gave me the news, my dad and I just stared at each other
crying for about five minutes," she told NFL.com. "It was the most
magical night.”
The lawsuit, though, suggested that the magic quickly ended when the
longtime New Jersey resident reported for duty after being sent
man-sized clothing to wear and being told to let her ponytail show
out the hole in the back of her hat, apparently to make clear a
woman was on the field. It said repeated references to her hair
eventually made her want to cut it off.
The lawsuit asserted that an NFL officials' crew chief told
then-Pittsburgh Steelers' Coach Mike Tomlin one day during training
camp that she should be made to sing in front of everyone, like
rookie football players, because she was a new official.
As a result, she said, she “put on an utterly 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.
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Line judge Robin DeLorenzo looks on during the second half of an NFL
football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee
Titans, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M.
Ebenhack, File)
In the following weeks, she was repeatedly shamed,
harassed and subjected to profanity-laced trash talk by her crew
chief, a man who had recently been accused of mistreating another
female employee, the lawsuit said. By the end of the season, the
crew chief would not even speak to her, it added.
In 2024, DeLorenzo was forced to attend “an alleged training
opportunity,” over her union's objection, that catered to
lower-level college 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 its purpose of humiliating
plaintiff, shattering her confidence, and significantly hindering
her NFL career,” the lawsuit said.
DeLorenzo was fired on Feb. 18, 2025.
“She worked her way through two decades of officiating — breaking
barriers, making history, and outperforming 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 opportunities for women,” the lawsuit said.
“Instead of supporting one of the only women on its officiating
staff, the NFL exposed her to unchecked 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,” it said.
The lawsuit said the harm to her career was irreversible and the
emotional and reputational damage was immense.
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