Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby is taking legal action against the WNBA and the team where she spent the majority of her professional basketball career.
Hamby, then a first-round draft pick by the San Antonio Stars, filed the paperwork Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. The Stars moved to Las Vegas for the 2018 season and changed their name to the Aces.
The lawsuit alleges that Hamby, a three-time WNBA All-Star, faced “repeated intimidation, discrimination and retaliation” before and after she joined the Sparks in 2023. Hamby was pregnant at the time.
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Los Angeles Sparks player Dearrica Hamby (number 5) prepares to shoot a free throw during a game against the New York Liberty on June 20, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York. (Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)
The WNBA opened an investigation into Hamby’s discrimination claims in 2023.
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Aces coach Becky Hammon was suspended two games after the investigation and the team was stripped of a first-round draft pick, but Hamby’s lawyers argued the league did not respond quickly enough.
Los Angeles Sparks player #5 Dearica Hamby watches the game against the Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on June 11, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“The WNBA is essentially a workplace, and federal law has long protected pregnant women from workplace discrimination. When the world champion Aces banned Dearica Hamby for being pregnant, the WNBA responded with light punishment,” Dana Sniegocki, Erin Norgaard and Artur Davis of HKM employment law firm said in a statement.
Dearica Hamby (5) of the Las Vegas Aces dribbles down the court during a WNBA basketball game against the Phoenix Mercury on May 6, 2022 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)
The lawyers added that Hamby’s ordeal should serve as a “warning” to other aspiring WNBA mothers.
“Every prospective mother in the league is informed that giving birth can change her career prospects overnight. This is not right in one of the most thriving and vibrant women’s professional sports leagues in America.”
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Hamby is a two-time WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and was a member of the Aces 2022 WNBA Championship team.
Fox News Digital reached out to the WNBA and the Aces but did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment.
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