NUTLEY, NJ — A New Jersey native who broke ground as of the first three women to officiate an NFL game is suing the league over her firing and treatment on the job.
Robin DeLorenzo garnered headlines when she took the field as a down judge in 2022. It was a magic moment for the Nutley High School class of 1997 graduate, who recently spoke with the Inside Nutley podcast about her gridiron journey: from growing up in North Jersey, to refereeing local high school football, to officiating Michigan-Ohio State before over 100,000 people, to eventually joining the NFL.
That journey came to an end in February 2025 when DeLorenzo was fired.
Now, she has launched a lawsuit against the NFL seeking reinstatement. Her suit claims that she experienced gender-based scrutiny, embarrassment and hostility while working as a league official.
An NFL spokesperson said DeLorenzo was terminated after three seasons of documented underperformance, the Associated Press reported.
“The allegations in this lawsuit are baseless, and we will vigorously defend against them in court,” he said.
However, DeLorenzo tells a different story, alleging that she suffered a series of sexist experiences after starting her new job. They included being given man-sized clothing, being subjected to profanity-laced trash talk, being forced to attend a training session that was geared towards college-level officials, being told to wear her hair in a ponytail so people could see she was a woman, and being bullied into putting on a “humiliating singing performance” in front of Pittsburgh Steelers players and her fellow officials.
DeLorenzo also named a former NFL senior vice president of officiating and an ex-officiating trainer coach in her lawsuit.
The New Jersey native spoke about her football career in a 2023 post on NFL.com, recalling her first preseason game as an official in the NFL.
“When I ran out onto the field, my whole family was there and I saw my dad in the stands and just took it all in,” she remembered.
“That was a moment I'll never forget,” she said.
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