After being fired for posting a risqué picture of herself on her private Instagram account, a cheerleader for the New Orleans Saints is fighting back.

It was Bailey Davis’ life dream to be a part of the Saintsations, the cheer squad attached to the NFL team, and when she turned 18 she made it happen, reports BBC.

As a loyal member, Davis of course followed the team’s ridiculous rules, one of them being that she had to make her Instagram page private, so only people she approved could see what she posted.

But then, in January, Saints officials accused her, despite her protests, of breaking another rule, this time one that prohibits the cheerleaders from appearing nude, semi-nude or in lingerie on the Internet:

“Very poor judgement to post a picture like that especially considering our recent conversations about the rumors [sic] going around about u,” Ashley Deaton, the senior director of the Saintsations, wrote to Davis in a text message. “This does not help your case. I’d expect you to know better.”

You see, the “recent conversations” surrounded a rumour that Davis had been seen at a party where a Saints player was also present. This too is forbidden by the team. However, Davis denied being at the party, and the team told her it had no evidence she was there.

But then, after what she said were “three largely trouble-free seasons”, she was fired – and it’s all thanks to this photo:

Hmmm. She could have chosen better lingerie – maybe one of these from Désir?

Anyway, Davis soon opened a can of worms when she filed a gender discrimination complaint against the New Orleans Saints’ Saintsations squad. In it, she claimed that female dancers are held to a higher standard than the male footballers, and looking at the Saintsations’ rulebook she is pretty accurate.

The New York Times outlines some of the most ridiculous rules:

[T]he Saints have an anti-fraternization policy that requires cheerleaders to avoid contact with players, in person or online, even though players are not penalized for pursuing such engagement with cheerleaders. The cheerleaders must block players from following them on social media and cannot post photos of themselves in Saints gear, denying them the chance to market themselves. The players are not required to do any of these things.

Cheerleaders are told not to dine in the same restaurant as players, or speak to them in any detail. If a Saints cheerleader enters a restaurant and a player is already there, she must leave. If a cheerleader is in a restaurant and a player arrives afterward, she must leave.

There are nearly 2,000 players in the N.F.L., and many of them use pseudonyms on social media. Cheerleaders must find a way to block each one, while players have no limits on who can follow them.

However, the team argues that its rulebook is there to protect the girls, even though all the onus is put on them, essentially proving that they think NFL players are predators.

Since the Saintsations are allowed to work for the team for only four years, Davis will not be able to work her fourth year.

But she says that her fight is in an effort to “help other cheerleaders by forcing the team to change its rules so all employees were treated equally”:

“I’m doing this for them so they can do what they love and feel protected and empowered, and be a female athlete and not be pushed to the side and feeling unimportant,” Davis said.

If you want to see her say those words, watch below:

#leveltheplayingfield

A post shared by Bailey Davis (@jacalynbailey) on Mar 27, 2018 at 6:30am PDT

I just don’t get it, though; she was allowed to post online the outfits in which she auditioned in without consequence?

Weird.

[source:bbc&nytimes]