Houston Texans’ Cheerleader Director Resigns

The director of the Houston Texans cheerleaders who was accused in a lawsuit of body shaming and failing to protect her staff resigned late Tuesday.

Altovise Gary, who worked for the Texans for 17 years, quit for personal reasons, according to a team spokeswoman.

Gary’s departure came less than two weeks after TMZ Sports published a video of Texans cheerleaders in bikinis at a pool party.

The case that named Gary as a defendant, and a second case brought by the women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred on behalf of five other cheerleaders, are now both being overseen by an arbitrator.

The Texans are just one of several teams that have been accused of mistreating cheerleaders. In March, a former New Orleans Saints cheerleader filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces civil rights laws, accusing the Saints of having one set of rules for their cheerleaders, who are all women, and another for the players, who are all men.

The Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins and other teams have been accused of mistreating their cheerleaders as well.

The N.F.L. does not employee the cheerleaders. But the numerous claims against the teams that hire and manage the cheerleader squads have embarrassed the league, which has tried to counter the perception that it does little to promote and protect women.