In the past few years, the WNBA’s popularity has soared. But behind closed doors, a bitter fight between an athlete and the league has been playing out. On Monday, Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby filed a federal discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the WNBA and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, claiming they treated her unfairly when they found out she was pregnant.
CNN reports that Hamby alleges that after she announced her second pregnancy in the fall of 2022, she experienced “repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation that culminated in January 2023 with the Aces trading Hamby (to the Los Angeles Sparks) because the star forward was pregnant,” according to a press release from her attorneys. She’s seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
According to the suit, Hamby signed an extension with the Aces in July 2022, and three weeks later she realized she was pregnant. She claims that she told Becky Hammon, the team’s head coach, and other members of the team’s staff about the pregnancy in early August 2022, before even confirming the pregnancy with her doctor. She kept playing for the team and helped the Aces win the WNBA championship in September. During a parade celebrating the victory two days later, she revealed her pregnancy to fans and the team.
“After making her pregnancy public, plaintiff Hamby experienced notable changes in the way she was treated by Las Vegas Aces staff,” the lawsuit says. Hamby claims that in October, she was told she had to leave team housing without explanation, and in January, Hammon asked if she had planned her pregnancy. When Hamby said she hadn’t, “Hammon told Hamby she was not taking proper precautions not to get pregnant,” the lawsuit says. Hamby claims that the coach questioned her commitment to the team, whether she’d be able to play in the next season, and said she was a “question mark.” The player said she would be giving birth during the off-season and would be ready to play by fall. Within weeks of the phone call, Hamby was traded to the Sparks.
Hamby first publicly alluded to discrimination by the Aces in January 2023, when she tweeted: “Imagine expressing your fears as a woman and being pregnant in this profession/world … Then to be reassured that you were supported … and your back was ‘had’ … only to then be used against you. Lmao.” Two weeks later, she wrote a lengthy good-bye post to Las Vegas fans on Instagram, saying, “Being traded is part of the business” but “being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against is not.”
Her comments led to an investigation by the WNBA, and it suspended Hammon for two games for violating workplace policies. In May 2023, Hammon insisted that the decision to trade Hamby had nothing to do with her pregnancy and was simply a business decision. “We made the decision to move Hamby because we could get three bodies in her one contract, and we wanted to get three more people in,” she said. “I think it’s very evident with who we signed on why we made the move.” The team brought in players Candace Parker, Alysha Clark, and Cayla George. At the time, the Aces said they were “disappointed” in the league’s decision to suspend Hammon and that the team would “stand behind Coach Hammon as she continues to lead the Las Vegas Aces.”
In the suit, Hamby says the Aces “engaged in a number of retaliatory acts,” including telling Aces players not to talk to her, refusing to invite Hamby to the White House to celebrate the team’s 2022 victory, and trying to access her private medical records. In an email to the Cut, an Aces spokesman said the team will “continue to stand behind” its May 2023 statement and would not comment further “given that this is an ongoing litigation.”
On Monday, Hamby’s attorneys accused the WNBA of responding to Hamby’s being “exiled” with “a light tap on the wrist.” They said: “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.”
A WNBA spokesperson told the Athletic on Monday that the league is “aware of today’s legal filing” and is “reviewing the complaint.” The Cut has reached out to the WNBA and Hamby for comment. We will update this post when we hear back.
This post has been updated.
