Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby is taking her fight against the Las Vegas Aces to a different court.
Hamby is taking legal action against the WNBA and the Aces after she submitted documentation to the U.S. District Court of Nevada, according to The New York Post. The documentation alleges that the three-time WNBA All-Star faced “repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation” leading up to and after she was traded to the Sparks in 2023.
Hamby was pregnant at the time.
Fresh off an Olympic bronze medal, Dearica Hamby, a three-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Sixth Women of the Year winner, is accusing the league and her former team of discriminating and retaliating against her while she was pregnant, culminating in her trade to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023.
“Defendant’s decision to trade [Hamby] was motivated by [Hamby’s] announcement that she was pregnant after signing her contract extension,” reads the 18-page complaint, filed in U.S. district court in Nevada on Monday.
Hamby’s lawyers are alleging that being traded caused Dearica Hamby harm, including “lost promotional and/or endorsement opportunities, relocation to a more unfavorable tax environment, and the denial of a chance to participate for a back-to-back WNBA championship.”
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They are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, “to be determined at trial.”
Dearica Hamby Reportedly Saw Differences In Aces After Announcing Her Pregnancy
Dearica Hamby publicly announced her pregnancy for the first time when she was on stage during the Aces’ championship parade in September 2022. She allegedly “experienced notable changes in the way she was treated by Las Vegas Aces staff” after that day, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further alleged that Aces general manager Natalie Williams informed Dearica Hamby she would need to vacate team-provided housing in October 2022.
By January 2023, Aces coach Becky Hammon allegedly told Hamby on a phone call that she didn’t take “proper precautions” to ensure that she would not be pregnant while questioning her “commitment and dedication to the team.”
During that same phone call, Hammom also allegedly accused Hamby of signing a two-year contract extension while knowingly pregnant.
By the end of the month, the Aces would trade Hamby to the Sparks, and she would give birth to her second child in March of 2023.
Also read: WNBA Star A’ja Wilson Called Out For Being “Fake” By Her Own Teammate After Winning Gold In Paris
