A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem, Premieres on PBS

January 4, 2021: A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem, a documentary about the NFL cheerleader lawsuit over unpaid wages, premiered on PBS as part of its Independent Lens series after a successful debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film was directed by Yu Gu and produced by Elizabeth Ai.

According to PBS, A Woman’s Work sheds light on the continued fight to end the gender pay gap prevalent throughout the National Football League. For over 50 years, the NFL has employed cheerleaders — women who are lifelong athletes expected to both maintain peak physical condition and fulfill extreme beauty standards. Many of these athletes have been historically underpaid, with some earning as little as $5 an hour, while others were never paid a salary at all. A Woman’s Work chronicles the journeys of cheerleaders from the Raiders and the Buffalo Bills, each of whom put their careers on the line to file an NFL cheerleader lawsuit and fight for fair pay.

The NFL Cheerleader Lawsuit Behind the Documentary

The Marlborough Law Firm was appointed Co-Lead Counsel in the NFL cheerleader lawsuit against the Bills and the league, and Christopher Marlborough appears briefly in the film. Christopher Marlborough called A Woman’s Work “a very powerful film by two talented filmmakers. Yu and Elizabeth did an exemplary job portraying the struggle of NFL cheerleaders to receive fair treatment within the league and the challenges of wage theft litigation. I am very proud of my clients for their courage in taking a stance on this important issue.”

The case remains a landmark example of how an NFL cheerleader lawsuit can hold major employers accountable, even when the workers involved are cheerleaders for a professional sports franchise rather than the traditional face of a wage-and-hour dispute.

“The film is available through PBS’s Independent Lens and various streaming platforms.