A federal judge has ruled that a voice-over artist who worked almost exclusively for New Jersey-based NFL Films cannot sue the company for sexual harassment because, though she used the company's facilities for her work, she was an independent contractor and not a full-time employee.

U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb, sitting in Camden, granted NFL Films' motion for summary judgment and dismissed the sexual harassment claim filed by the voice-over artist, Nadia Axakowsky.

Axakowsky, in her lawsuit, alleges that several producers and engineers who supervised her  work sexually harassed her during the years that she worked at NFL Films, which is based in Mount Laurel.

In her Nov. 14 opinion, Bumb agreed with NFL Films that, even though Axakowsky did most of her voice-over work at the NFL Films studios, she was not a full-time employee and could not pursue a sexual harassment claim under New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination.

“The court holds that a reasonable factfinder could only conclude that plaintiff was an independent contractor, and that plaintiff's LAD claim fails as a matter of law,” Bumb said in her ruling.

Axakowsky recorded much of her work at NFL Films from 2003 until September 2016, when her professional relationship with the company was terminated, the decision said.

Axakowsky was retained to record 10- to 15-second sound bites—known as “billboards”—to be played during NFL programs, the ruling said.

Although she was not an NFL Films employee, NFL Films' producers and engineers recorded and supervised her work, and ensured that it met company quality standards, Bumb said, noting that Axakowsky worked about an hour and a half a week and was paid between $500 and $600 a session.

It was during her period of recording at NFL Films, the lawsuit alleges, that she was sexually harassed by two NFL Films employees, both of whom no longer work at the company.

In her lawsuit, Axakowsky claims that she was essentially an NFL Films employee and can avail herself of the protections of the LAD. At one point, she noted, a supervisor said of her in a letter of recommendation that “her voice is synonymous with the network.”

Bumb disagreed with Axakowsky's arguments. She pointed to two separate rulings: Alberty-Velez v. Corporacion de Puerto Rico para la Division Publica, a 2004 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and Lehrol v. Friends of Minnesota Sinfonia, a 2003 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

In Alberty-Velez, the court ruled that a TV host was not a station employee, and in Lehrol, that court ruled that professional musicians were independent contractors.

Axakowsky, Bumb said, fit into those categories.

Bumb also noted that Axakowsky worked when she wanted to.

“A reasonable factfinder could only inform from this arrangement that should Axakowsky wish not to participate in a given recording session, she would be free to do so; she would simply not participate and would not invoice” NFL Films, Bumb said.

Axakowsky's attorney, Caroline Miller of the Derek Smith Law Group in Philadelphia, declined to comment.

NFL Films' attorney, Elise Bloom of Proskauer Rose in New York, didn't return a call seeking comment.