Three-time WNBA All-Star and recent Olympic bronze medal winner Dearica Hamby filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the WNBA and the Las Vegas Aces, her former team, alleging discrimination and retaliation over Hamby’s pregnancy.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada and claims Hamby suffered “a loss of reputational prestige and brand value” and “loss of marketing and/or endorsement opportunities” after the Aces traded her to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023. The lawsuit is seeking damages through a jury trial.
“The WNBA is, at its core, a workplace, and federal laws have long shielded pregnant women from discrimination on the job,” Hamby’s legal team said Monday in a statement. “The world champion Aces exiled Dearica Hamby for becoming pregnant and the WNBA responded with a light tap on the wrist. Every potential mother in the league is now on notice that childbirth could change their career prospects overnight. That can’t be right in one of the most prosperous and dynamic women’s professional sports leagues in America.”
The lawsuit alleges that the Aces offered Hamby incentives outside of a two-year contract she signed in June 2022 in an effort to retain her services. Those incentives, per the filing, included “an agreement by the Las Vegas Aces to cover private tuition costs” for Hamby’s daughter, Amaya, and team-provided housing that the filing states Hamby used for family to assist with childcare duties when she was traveling for away games.
Weeks after she signed the contract, the lawsuit states that Hamby discovered she was pregnant and informed Aces coach Becky Hammon and general manager Natalie Williams. The filing, however, alleges that Hamby “experienced notable changes in the way she was treated by Las Vegas Aces staff” after she made her pregnancy public.
That included the team allegedly withholding the promised tuition relief for her daughter’s school and her alleged forced removal from the team-provided housing.
The lawsuit also alleges that Hammon “questioned Hamby’s dedication and commitment to the team” during a January 2023 phone call, and that Hammon “did not deny the accusation that Hamby was being traded because she was pregnant.”
Hamby, through the WNBA Player’s Association, requested an investigation in January 2023 into the Aces following the trade. The league opened the inquiry in February and in May announced that it had completed the investigation. The WNBA found that the Aces violated league rules for impermissible player benefits — docking the team its 2025 first-round draft pick selection — and suspended Hammon two games without pay for “violating league and team Respect in the Workplace policies.”
“As an organization, we continue to stand behind our statement on May 16, 2023, made at the conclusion of the WNBA’s investigation into this matter,” the Aces said in a statement Tuesday emailed to USA TODAY Sports. “Given that this is an ongoing litigation, the Aces will have no further comment at this time.”
In their statement last year, the Aces said they were “deeply disappointed by the outcome of the WNBA investigation. … The well-being of our players and their families has and will always be at the forefront of who we are.”
In September 2023, Hamby had filed a charge of discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which then sent Hamby a “notice of right to sue” in May 2024. The notice follows an EEOC investigation into a complaint and grants a prospective plaintiff the opportunity to file a lawsuit against an employer in federal or state court.
This season for the Sparks, Hamby, 30, has been averaging career-highs in points (19.2), rebounds (10) and assists per game (3.5). At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hamby won the bronze medal as part of Team USA’s 3×3 women’s basketball team.
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