NFL line judge Robin DeLorenzo on the field

She is not going down without a fight.

Robin DeLorenzo, one of the first three women to work full-time as an on-field NFL official, is now going after the league. She has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the league for alleged sexism that she experienced over a three-year period.

The suit claims that DeLorenzo faced “gender-based scrutiny, humiliation, and hostility” while serving as an NFL official from 2022 until her firing in February 2025. She was one of three refs removed from their positions and reassigned to NCAA power conferences. Those other officials were James Carter and down judge Robert Richeson.

At the time, it was reported that the refs could go through a developmental program and potentially regain their NFL jobs.

One referee told Ben Austro of Football Zebras that, “The culture is changing; it’s changing rapidly.” It’s changing into a competitive environment where everybody’s equal. There are no favorites. There’s no favoritism. There’s none of that; it’s all about performance.”

Robin DeLorenzo Wants Reinstatement And Damages From Losing Her Job

Dec 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; NFL line judge Robin DeLorenzo (134) reacts during the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Former NFL ref Robin DeLorenzo filed a lawsuit against the league. She claims that she faced gender discrimination, retaliation, and harassment while in her role from 2022 to 2025, when the league fired her. She filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

DeLorenzo is seeking reinstatement along with unspecified damages. An NFL spokesperson on Tuesday called the lawsuit “baseless.”

“[DeLorenzo] 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 reads.

“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 then touches on a pattern of discriminatory indignities. It states DeLorenzo was provided with ill-fitting, man-sized clothing and instructed to showcase her ponytail through her hat. The suit says that “repeated references” to her hair made her want to chop it off.

Robin DeLorenzo says that her supervisor, Walter Anderson, former senior vice president of officiating, was the one who told her about that. Anderson is one of the officials named in the complaint.

“The comments were making her so uncomfortable she considered cutting off her hair,” the complaint says.

The men’s clothing that was too large for her forced her to purchase her own shorts and iron on the NFL patches herself. She also worked games without weather-resistant shirts or jackets that fit. “At times, the weather was simply unbearable, but she worked through it nonetheless,” the complaint says.

DeLorenzo said she was subject to “humiliation” as well. She was made to sing in front of the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp as a “rookie” official. DeLorenzo said Anderson recorded part of her performance despite her asking him not to.

Robin DeLorenzo said she was fired on Feb. 18, 2025.

Fearne Cotton has broken her silence on split from husband Jesse Wood in her first TV interview since the breakup.

Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday’s episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw.

Fearne announced her split from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood, in December after 10 years of marriage.

She has since made swipes at Jesse and moved on with TV director Elliot Hegarty, with the pair having been seen kissing during a recent night out.

Fearne has had a difficult few months after undergoing surgery to remove two benign tumours from her jawline, just days before her split with Jesse emerged.

She told host Lorraine: ‘It’s all very amicable and kids are doing great. I am in a very good place.’place.’

 

Fearne Cotton has broken her silence on split from husband Jesse Wood in her first TV interview since the breakup

 

Fearne announced her split from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood , in December after 10 years of marriage (both pictured in February 2024)

Discussing her recent surgery, she added: ‘I feel very grateful to have completely recovered.

‘I feel really good. I have a lot of people reaching out who have had the same thing.’

Davina McCall, 56, announced in November she’d been diagnosed with a colloid cyst, a rare type of benign brain tumour, and has supported Fearne.

She continued: ‘Everyone needs a Davina. She’s been amazing, weird that we had the same health thing going on at the same time. She’s so calming and we speak every day. She is just the best

It comes after Fearne has seemingly made another thinly-veiled dig at her ex-husband as she gushed that she is the happiest she’s ever been in a positive update.

Speaking to Scott Mills on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, Fearne gushed that she is ‘really happy’ and is ‘springing out of bed in the morning ready for life’.

Scott, who has known Fearne for 25 years, said he has never seen her ‘more positive or happier’, prompting Fearne to agree and reply: ‘Yeah I feel great!’

She told how her health scare has changed her outlook and said she has been seeking comfort from Davina.

Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday's episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw
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Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday’s episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw