One of the first female referees ‘considered cutting off her hair’ amid discrimination from NFL officials, lawsuit says

One of the NFL’s first female referees said she considered cutting off her hair after league officials allegedly instructed her to style it in a way that would clearly mark her as a woman on the field, according to a new harassment lawsuit. Robin DeLorenzo, a trailblazing full-time on-field official, filed the complaint Friday in Manhattan federal court, accusing the league of subjecting her to a three-year pattern of “gender-based scrutiny, humiliation and hostility” from 2022 until her dismissal in February 2025. DeLorenzo began her officiating career working high school games before advancing to the college level, eventually earning a position with the NFL .

But in her complaint, she describes a workplace that “fixated on her gender from day one. ” According to the filing, the NFL “views female officials as novelties to be controlled, disciplined, or pushed out — never as professionals entitled to equal opportunity,” the New York Times reports. The lawsuit seeks reinstatement and unspecified damages.

The NFL, however, denied the allegations, calling them “baseless” and maintaining that DeLorenzo’s termination was performance-related. Former NFL ref Robin DeLorenzo says her supervisor asked her to wear her ponytail through the back of her hat, ignoring her preference to tuck it under (Getty Images) “The NFL is committed to providing a fair and supportive environment for all of its game officials,” an NFL spokesperson told The Independent . “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. ” In the suit, DeLorenzo alleges that her supervisor, Walter Anderson, former senior vice president of officiating, instructed her to wear her hair in a ponytail pulled through the back of her hat rather than allowing her to tuck it under as she preferred.