In a federal court suit filed on Monday, Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby claimed she was the victim of pregnancy-related employment discrimination and retribution, she also sued the WNBA and her previous team, the Las Vegas Aces.
The case, which was submitted to the U.S. District Court of Nevada, alleges that Becky Hammon, the coach of the Aces, accused Hamby of knowing she was pregnant when she signed a contract extension with the team. In the 2022 season, Hamby claimed that she signed the deal a month after learning she was expecting her second child.
As a member of the American 3×3 team that won a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics, Hamby claims that Hammon told the Aces staff that she would “get pregnant again for a third time.” According to the lawsuit, Hammon did not dispute that she was being transferred because she was pregnant when Hamby asked.
After eight seasons with the San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise, the Aces moved Hamby to the Sparks in January 2023. In 2019 and 2020, she won the Sixth Player of the Year Award, and in 2021 and 2022, she was named an All-Star. Additionally, Hamby claims that when she first filed her complaint to the league headquarters, the WNBA did not sufficiently investigate it. Furthermore, Hamby’s marketing deal with the league was not renewed when she filed the complaint.
‘We are aware of today’s legal filing and are reviewing the complaint,’ the WNBA said in a statement to The Athletic.The Aces have not commented on the suit.
Hammon denied mistreating Hamby at a news conference before the 2023 season, saying that ‘once I made the phone call that the decision has been made to move her — you know, that’s when everything kind of fell apart.’
That year, the WNBA suspended Hammon for two games for violating its ‘Respect in the Workplace’ policies over private comments the coach made about Hamby’s pregnancy. The Aces also forfeited their 2025 first-round draft pick due to impermissible benefits offered to Hamby during extension negotiations.
Monday’s lawsuit revealed that the Aces allegedly agreed to cover private school tuition for Hamby’s elder child in the form of a ‘donation’ to the school.
This season, Hamby, 30, was selected to her third All-Star squad in her career. Through 24 games (all starts), she is averaging 19.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, all of which are career highs.
Hamby has put up averages of 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in her 306-game career (128 starts).
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