NFL Films, the official production arm of the National Football League, reportedly maintained a database of cheerleader butt, chest, and cleavage shots.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that former NFL Film human resources employee, Victoria Russell, filed a lawsuit against the company after it fired her last year for revealing that it kept “sexualized and offensive descriptions of women” in a database that the company curated.
A Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader performs during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at AT&T Stadium on December 04, 2022, in Arlington, Texas. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
In her complaint, Russell alleged that NFL Films had a database of timestamps on its footage that included descriptions like ‘cheerleaders buttocks,” “cheerleaders rear end,” “female fan in bikini top,” “naughty camera work,” “close up of cheerleader’s breasts; cleavage shot,” “shot of endowed woman” and “random woman, cleavage shot.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the contents of those shots were marked “sensitive,” adding that they were to ensure that such footage could not be used in future productions. McCarthy further asserted that since NFL Films chronicles every frame shot by the camera, the company inevitably needed a proper taxonomy in place to flag more inappropriate images.
“Those frames are logged as ‘sensitive’ so that they can be removed from circulation, meaning they will not be accessible to employees whose job it is to locate footage for productions,” McCarthy said. “Ms. Russell didn’t have credentials for the logging system, nor did any aspect of her responsibilities involve accessing footage.”
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders perform during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at AT&T Stadium on December 4, 2022, in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Colts 54-19. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
The Wall Street Journal added that Russell alleged she was mistreated as “a black woman who worked in human resources for the NFL between 2018 and 2022.”
She alleges that she was denied a dedicated workspace, pay raises and advancement opportunities that white and male employees enjoyed. She says she was abruptly fired after she complained to the league’s chief diversity officer, six months after she had received a promotion that she said was significantly delayed, while she was pregnant, and without having received any warnings about her performance.
The NFL denied ever discriminating or retaliating against Russell.
Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders perform during a game against the Chicago Bears at AT&T Stadium on October 30, 2022, in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Bears 49-29. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
“We are committed to providing all employees a workplace that is respectful, diverse, inclusive and free from discrimination and harassment,” McCarthy said. “The NFL didn’t discriminate or retaliate against Ms. Russell during her time as a temporary staff member. We will vigorously defend against these claims.”
Sources close to the situation said that two-thirds of the NFL’s hiring last year were women or people of color, with the top three human resources executives being black. Sources also alleged that hire firing stemmed from performance issues.
Russell counters that the logs were used for inappropriate means, saying she had a “front-row seat to the NFL’s culture of sexual harassment.” In 2018, during an audit of the HR system, Russell said that she discovered “a chat room log tracking timestamps on NFL footage and linking the timestamps to sexualized and offensive descriptions of women captured on that footage.”
“The commentary associated with the timestamps included approximately 14 pages of sexually degrading remarks about women,” the lawsuit said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.