Former NFL Official Robin DeLorenzo Sues League Over Bias Claims

Robin DeLorenzo, a New Jersey native and one of the first women in history to officiate a National Football League game, has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the league and two officials of gender discrimination, retaliation, and harassment during her time as an NFL official.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint seeks reinstatement along with damages and other relief under federal and state anti-discrimination laws, including Title VII and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

DeLorenzo worked as an NFL official from April 2022 until Feb. 18, 2025, when the league terminated her employment. She says her time in the league involved gender-based scrutiny, humiliation, disparate training, unequal equipment and open hostility.

Before joining the NFL, DeLorenzo spent more than two decades building a career in football officiating. She began working high school football and later officiated at the college level, including games in the Big Ten Conference. Her hiring in 2022 placed her among only three women serving as full-time on-field NFL officials at the time.

Sarah Thomas became the NFL’s first full-time female official in 2015, followed by Maia Chaka in 2021 and DeLorenzo in 2022. By 2025, the league employed more than 100 game officials.

In a 2023 interview with NFL.com, DeLorenzo described the moment she learned she had been hired. The NFL’s senior vice president of officiating allowed her father to deliver the news.

“Once he gave me the news, my dad and I just stared at each other crying for about five minutes,” she said. “It was the most magical night.”

According to the complaint, her experience changed after she reported for work. The lawsuit says she received man-sized clothing that did not fit and was instructed to let her ponytail show through the hole in the back of her hat, even though she preferred to keep her hair tucked underneath. The repeated references to her hair made her so uncomfortable that she considered cutting it off.

The complaint also states she had to purchase her own shorts and iron NFL patches onto them. She said she never received undergarments that fit and worked games without weather-resistant shirts or jackets sized for her.

“At times, the weather was simply unbearable but she worked through it nonetheless,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit alleges male officials received properly fitted clothing and equipment.

The filing also describes an incident during Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. According to the complaint, an officiating crew chief told Steelers coach Mike Tomlin that DeLorenzo should sing in front of everyone present, similar to a training camp practice sometimes required of rookie players.

DeLorenzo said she performed in front of Steelers players, her officiating crew and her supervisor. The complaint says Walter Anderson recorded part of the performance after she asked him not to.

Anderson, the NFL’s former senior vice president of officiating, is one of the officials named in the lawsuit along with Byron Boston.

During her first season, DeLorenzo worked on the officiating crew led by referee John Hussey. The lawsuit states Hussey used profanity while addressing her and told her to “shut your f—ing mouth.” According to the complaint, he eventually stopped speaking with her by the end of the season.

The filing also states she experienced verbal abuse from a supervisor and repeated profanity during interactions.

Another issue described in the complaint involves a training assignment in 2024. DeLorenzo said she was required to attend a college officiating clinic that involved lower-level college officials learning the profession and used different rules, mechanics and philosophies than those used in the NFL.

The lawsuit states the clinic served no purpose other than humiliating her and interfering with her NFL career. The clinic was run by Anderson and Boston.

The NFL Referees Association filed a grievance on DeLorenzo’s behalf regarding the clinic. According to the complaint, the league reimbursed her expenses and paid her for attending.

The lawsuit also challenges the grading system used to evaluate officials. DeLorenzo alleges she received inaccurate grades on calls and that male officials were treated more favorably while she faced stricter standards. She says those evaluations were influenced by individuals she accuses of discrimination and contributed to the decision to terminate her employment on Feb. 18, 2025.

The complaint states the firing resulted from years of discrimination, humiliation and retaliation.

“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 complaint states.

The filing says the league exposed her to harassment, denied her the resources given to male officials, manipulated training and grading opportunities and ended her career based on evaluations produced by individuals she accuses of discrimination. It states the harm to her career is irreversible and that the emotional and reputational damage is extensive.

The NFL disputes the claims.

In an email to ESPN, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said DeLorenzo was terminated due to documented underperformance after three seasons and called the claims in the lawsuit baseless.

In a statement, the league said: “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 allegations in this lawsuit are baseless, and we will vigorously defend against them in court.”

Messages seeking comment from the NFL and the NFL Referees Association were not immediately returned.