By: Reece Barnett
On August 12, 2024, it was announced that Los Angeles Sparks Forward and Olympic bronze medalist Dearica Hamby had filed a federal lawsuit against the WNBA and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, for the treatment she received after revealing she was pregnant.
Back in January of 2023, Dearica posted on her Instagram that she was leaving the Aces due to being discriminated against and traded to Los Angeles because she was pregnant. Accordingly, the WNBA investigated and in May of 2023 the league gave Aces coach and six-time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon a two-game suspension for what it deemed “a violation of league and team ‘respect in the workplace’ polices.” Additionally, the league rescinded the Aces’ first-round draft pick in 2025 for a different violation.
To fans that seemed to be the end of it, as focus shifted from the WNBA to women’s college basketball and the rising stars of the sport. Obviously, though, Hamby was displeased with both the WNBA’s investigation and the punishment. In September of 2023, she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and in May of 2024, the federal agency ruled she had the right to sue.
Hamby, who had been with the Aces since 2015 back when they were the San Antonio Stars, stated that when she re-signed with the team in 2022, the Aces offered her a series of enticements including team-provided housing and an offer to cover the private school tuition costs for her daughter. After the 2022 season, when she found out she was pregnant with her son and told Hammon and the Aces, the use of the team-provided housing was rescinded and her daughter’s tuition was not paid. Additionally, Hamby alleges that Hammon asked her if her pregnancy was planned and questioned her dedication to the team. In the current suit, Hamby’s lawyers allege that the trade caused additional harm including “lost promotional and/or endorsement opportunities, relocation to a more unfavorable tax environment and the denial of a chance to participate for a back-to-back WNBA championship.”
The Aces are currently the reigning WNBA champions after winning the 2023 championship and are currently in the playoffs in search of their third consecutive championship. However, when the original investigation happened, Hammon claimed that the trade “came down to math and business” stating that “we made the decisions to move Hamby because we could get three bodies in for her one contract.” The current lawsuit state that the WNBA response didn’t go far enough to correct the violations of Hamby’s right and that the league “had the power to, but did not, rescind the trade.”
The lawsuit also alleges the Aces “engaged in a number of retaliatory acts” after she went public with her complaints on Instagram. These acts included telling players and staff to cease communications with Hamby, refusing to extend her an invitation to attend the White House ceremony celebrating their first championship win, and directing video personnel at a 2023 playoff game not to show Hamby’s daughter on screen despite the fact that she was a fan favorite. If the Aces did trade Hamby due to her pregnancy, then they essentially violated the 2020 CBA which granted parents protections that ensured pregnancy wouldn’t mean the end of their career.
Currently, Hamby and her lawyers are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, to be determined at trial. Meanwhile, on September 12, the WNBA and the Aces filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The league argues she doesn’t have standing to sue the WNBA because it doesn’t employ her and disputes her claim they didn’t properly investigate. The Aces claim Hamby failed to provide evidence of retaliation or discrimination. As of right now, everything is still pending, and the league is currently investigating the Aces regarding a two-year sponsorship deal offer in which each player could receive up to $100,000 per year.