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

April 1, 2026

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.” INDEPENDENT