WNBA star Dearica Hamby sues former team and league alleging discrimination over pregnancy

WNBA star Dearica Hamby sued her former team in federal court Monday, alleging the Las Vegas Aces discriminated against her after she revealed she was pregnant.

Hamby, the three-time All Star and Olympian, also named the league as a defendant in the suit, filed in federal district court in Nevada, which alleges WNBA officials failed to meaningfully punish the team after it investigated her claims last year, according to a copy of the complaint.

Neither the Aces nor the WNBA responded to requests for comment Monday night. An emailed request for comment sent to an address listed on the website of Aces head coach Becky Hammon — who is named in the suit but not listed as a defendant — was not immediately returned Monday night.

Hamby, 30, now a forward with the Los Angeles Sparks, said she alerted the Aces’ staff to her pregnancy in August 2022, days after she learned she was pregnant with her son, Legend, and in the weeks after she signed a two-year contract extension with the team, according to the complaint.

After Hamby publicly announced the pregnancy during a championship parade that September, the suit alleges, team staff members began treating her differently, including failing to pay for her daughter’s school tuition and instructing her to leave team-provided housing without explanation.

The team had agreed to provide both as part of her contract extension, the suit says.

In a conversation the following January, the suit alleges, Hammon questioned Hamby’s commitment to the team. The suit says Hammon accused Hamby of having signed the extension when she knew she was pregnant — a claim it says is false — and failing to take proper precautions 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 assured Hammon she’d give birth in the offseason and be ready to play by preseason that April.

The next day, on Jan. 16, Hammon told Hamby her time with the team was up, the suit says. Five days later, the Aces announced that Hamby had been traded to the Sparks. 

The suit, which does not specify damages and seeks a jury trial, also accuses the Aces of retaliation. The team sought to wrongfully obtain Hamby’s medical records, the suit says, and refused to extend a White House invitation to her after she helped the team win its first WNBA championship.

After Hamby spoke out on social media on Jan. 21, 2023, about some of the allegations in her complaint, the WNBA said it had launched an investigation.

On May 16 last year, the league said in a statement that 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.

According to the suit, the league took no steps to address what the complaint describes as a “clear-cut” violation of federal and state anti-discrimination law.