OAN Staff James Meyers
12:02 PM – Tuesday, August 13, 2024
WNBA player Dearica Hamby sued her former team in federal court on Monday, alleging the Las Vegas Aces discriminated against her after she revealed that she was pregnant.
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The Olympian, who also named the league as a defendant in the suit, filed it in federal district court in Nevada, claiming WNBA officials failed to meaningfully punish the team after it investigated Hamby’s claims in 2023, a copy of the complaint revealed.
The complaint alleges that the three-time WNBA All-Star faced “repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination and retaliation” leading up to and after she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in 2023. Hamby was pregnant at the time.
The WNBA began their investigation into Hamby’s discrimination claims in 2023.
As a result, Aces head coach Becky Hammon received a two-game suspension due to the probe. The team also had to forfeit a first round draft pick. However, Hamby’s attorneys argued the league’s response to the situation was insufficient.
“The WNBA is, at its core, a workplace, and federal laws have long shielded pregnant women from discrimination on the job. The world champion Aces exiled Dearica Hamby for becoming pregnant and the WNBA responded with a light tap on the wrist,” Dana Sniegocki, Erin Norgaard, and Artur Davis of HKM Employment Attorneys said in a statement.
After going public with the pregnancy during their championship parade last September, the suit alleges that team staff began treating Hamby differently, which included not paying for her daughter’s school tuition and told her to leave team-provided housing without any explanation.
Additionally, Hammon allegedly accused Hamby of signing the extension when she knew she was pregnant and failed to take proper measures to avoid getting pregnant.
“Hammon further stated that the Las Vegas Aces ‘needed bodies,’ and that Hamby would not be ready to play in time for the start of the next season,” the suit says, alleging that Hamby told Hammon she’d give birth in the off-season and be ready to play by preseason that April.
The following day, on January 16th, the coach told Hamby her time with the team was up, the suit says. Five days later, the team announced that they traded Hamby to the Los Angeles Sparks.
Furthermore, the suit, which does not specify damages and seeks a jury trial, also accused the Aces of retaliation. The team wanted to wrongfully obtain Hamby’s medical records, the suit also says, and refused to extend a White House invitation to her after she helped the team win its first WNBA championship.
On May 16th of that year, the WNBA released a statement saying the Aces had violated league rules in connection with Hamby’s contract. The WNBA rescinded the team’s first-round draft pick for 2024 and suspended Hammon for two games without pay, according to the complaint.
The suit also states that the league did not take any steps to address what the complaint describes as a “clear-cut” violation of federal and state anti-discrimination law.
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