Former referee Robin DeLorenzo files lawsuit against the NFL for gender-based scrutiny, harassment and discrimination during her tenure.

Former referee Robin De Lorenzo is now taking legal action against the NFL.

The 58-year-old has filed a lawsuit against the league and the allegations are extensive. It’s about gender-based scrutiny, harassment and discrimination during her three years in the NFL between 2022 and 2025.

“She worked her way up in refereeing for over two decades – breaking barriers, making history and exceeding expectations at every level – only to encounter hostility, retaliation and systemic inequality as soon as she entered a league that claims to promote opportunities for women,” the lawsuit states, according to the Associated Press.

DeLorenzo seeks damages from the NFL

“Instead of supporting one of the few women on the referee team, the NFL subjected her to unchecked harassment, denied her the resources provided to men, manipulated her training and evaluation opportunities, and ultimately ended her career based on tainted evaluations created by the very people who discriminated against her,” the indictment continues.

Dismissed in February 2025, DeLorenzo is not suing with the aim of possible reinstatement, however, but is instead seeking damages in an unspecified amount.

Among other things, DeLorenzo claims that she was instructed to leave her ponytail sticking out of the back of her cap during games so that players and fans would clearly recognize that a woman was on the field.

Ex-NFL referee complains of “extremely humiliating vocal performance” and vulgar remarks

The complaint includes further incidents from her time in the NFL, which DeLorenzo described. This involved an “extremely humiliating vocal performance” that the former referee had to give, allegedly at the instruction of an NFL crew chief during a training camp.

She then sang in front of Steelers players, all the men on her refereeing team and her supervisor. Her supervisor is said to have previously promised not to record her singing, but according to DeLorenzo, he did anyway.

The former referee also accuses her crew chief of constantly using vulgar, insulting and humiliating language. In addition, DeLorenzo is said to have been instructed to carry out a training measure that was actually intended for football referees at college level.

Because of these allegations, De Lorenzo states in the statement of claim that she has “suffered permanent damage to her career”.