Dearica Hamby has officially filed a civil rights lawsuit against the WNBA and the Las Vegas Aces, alleging that the two organizations unlawfully discriminated and retaliated against her. Hamby was traded by the Aces in 2022, soon after announcing that she was pregnant with her second child, Legend.
Dearica Hamby has officially filed a federal lawsuit against the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA, detailing the repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation that culminated in January 2023 with the Aces trading Hamby because the star forward was pregnant.
— Lyndsey D’Arcangelo 🏀 (@darcangel21) August 12, 2024
Hamby filed an official complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last fall, alleging that the Aces and head coach Becky Hammon had traded her because she was pregnant. Hamby announced her pregnancy in September 2022 during celebrations for the Aces’ first WNBA championship, and was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023 after a contentious few months.
Per the lawsuit, Hamby received the right to sue from the EEOC in May, and had 90 days to file the lawsuit.
In a statement posted to Instagram on the day her trade was announced, Hamby said that the trade had been a “traumatic” experience of “being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against.” Hamby also said that she was accused of signing her recent extension while knowing that she was pregnant.
Hamby’s claims led the WNBA to investigate. As a result of two investigations, Hammon was suspended for two games without pay, and the Aces were forced to forfeit a future 2025 draft pick.
This story will be updated.
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