Former NFL Employee Files Suit for Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation

Victoria Russell, a former employee of the National Football League and its television production arm NFL Films, filed a lawsuit in January 2023 for sexual harassment; discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and pregnancy; and retaliation. Among other things, Russell, a Black woman, was denied well-earned opportunities for promotion and advancement and, unlike her white and male counterparts, was not given a dedicated workspace. Russell also discovered a database cataloguing timestamps of footage of women paired with lewd comments  “cheerleaders buttocks,” “cheerleaders rear end,” “female fan in bikini top,” “naughty camerawork,” “close up of cheerleader’s breasts; cleavage shot,” “shot of endowed woman” and “random woman, cleavage shot.” In March 2022, Russell mustered the courage to complain to the NFL’s Chief Diversity Officer about the long standing discrimination. During that same meeting, Russell informed the NFL that she was pregnant. The NFL fired her one month later.
 
The case, Russell v. National Football League et al., BUR-L-000147-23, was filed in the New Jersey Superior Court, Burlington County.