A former Saintsation cheerleader filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the Saints and the NFL.
She says she was fired for breaking an organization rule that applies only to the women and not to the men.
Former NFL cheerleader Bailey Davis says joining the Saintsation team comes with a handbook of rules and regulations the women are told to follow, but the men on the team are exempt from. Davis learned that first hand when she was called into HR over rumors that she was at a party that a Saints player also attended. The player received no disciplinary action.
When she posted a photo of herself in what she calls a "lace one piece," she was immediately fired.
"They told me over and over 'perception is reality, perception is reality' so how they perceived the photo is immediately calling my character into question," Davis said.
The year before, the Saints organization profited off of a Saintsation calendar featuring Davis in a similar pose.
"They made her Ms. December and she had to have people sign it and sell these calendars so obviously it's a hypocritical rule, but they don't just have these rules, they make a woman feel like if a football player is seeking you it's because you're a bad person," Davis' attorney Sara Blackwell said.
HR accused Davis of inviting attention from players, without disciplining the players who reached out to her. Davis says she doesn't want her job back, rather she wants the organization to hold men to the same standards as women
"We want equality," Blackwell said. "The NFL owners are meeting right now in Orlando and we want it to be on their agenda to look at these antiquated, very old time, not American discriminatory rules and just make them equal. Treat women how they should be treated in 2018."
Outside legal counsel for the New Orleans Saints released the following statement:
"The New Orleans Saints is an equal opportunity employer, and it denies that Ms. Davis was discriminated against because she is female. The Saints will defend these allegations in due course, and the Organization is confident that its policies and workplace rules will withstand legal scrutiny."