Dearica Hamby Lawsuit Against Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
The Las Vegas Aces have had their fair share of success in the last few years, making the WNBA semifinals in 2021, followed by back to back championships in 2022 and 2023. Now a former player who was traded away from the team for many years is saying the team didn’t play nice. The Dearica Hamby lawsuit against her former team and the league itself should be interesting for all women.
Dearica Hamby Lawsuit Claiming “Intimidation, Discrimination And Retaliation”
Before we get into the claims, it is worth noting Dearica Hamby was not with the team for a stint. The star forward started her career with San Antonio back in 2015. San Antonio eventually relocated to Las Vegas to be come the Aces, and the rest is history. So Dearica has plenty of experience with the team.
The Dearica Hamby lawsuit filed on Monday claims she received a lot of backlash for getting pregnant, leading to what she says were “intimidation,” “discrimination,” and “retaliation” which inevitably led to her being traded away to the Los Angeles Sparks in early 2023.
“The WNBA is, at its core, a workplace, and federal laws have long shielded pregnant women from discrimination on the job,” her attorneys said in a statement. “The world champion Aces exiled Dearica Hamby for becoming pregnant and the WNBA responded with a light tap on the wrist.”
The WNBA Already Acted On Claims In Dearica Hamby Lawsuit
With the Dearica Hamby lawsuit, the star athlete is taking it from one court to another.
The WNBA already heard Dearica Hamby’s claims and it led to a two game suspension for Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and a loss of the team’s 2025 first round draft pick. However, as Hamby’s lawyers explain, it is a tap on the wrist compared to the pregnancy discrimination she faced on the job.
The argument is that in a league with women as the stars, the possibility of getting pregnant shouldn’t negatively affect your career opportunities. Now, she wants justice.
Who knows how the Dearica Hamby lawsuit will shape up, but it will certainly be an interesting case that any woman, basketball player or not, may want to take a look at.
