WNBA Player Doubles Down in Her Discrimination Suit Against Las Vegas Aces
Olympic medalist Dearica Hamby recently amended her complaint against former basketball team to strengthen her retaliation claims—she alleges she was traded because she got pregnant.
On June 2, 2025, Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby filed an amended complaint amplifying retaliation claims in her federal discrimination lawsuit. Originally filed in 2024 in Nevada district court, Hamby alleges that her former WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces, traded her to the Los Angeles Stars because of her pregnancy.
Hamby’s suit cited Title VII pregnancy discrimination, claiming that her Aces coach had traded Hamby because she did not take precautions to prevent pregnancy. Just weeks before she found out she was pregnant in 2022, she signed a two-year contract extension with the team.
Hamby issued a statement after being traded, detailing the discrimination she faced. While the WNBA investigated the incident, Hamby didn’t feel the league did enough for the harm she suffered.
She subsequently filed a discrimination lawsuit, alleging in her complaint that Aces staff started treating her differently after she announced her pregnancy, including kicking her out of team-provided housing. Hamby holds that the Aces told staff and players to stop communicating with Hamby after she posted on social media that she was upset about being traded and accused the team of lying to her, manipulating her, and bullying her. She argued her post was a protected activity and should not have caused retaliation.
Have You Experienced Discrimination?
Discrimination is prejudicial or unfair treatment of people because of their membership in a legally protected category, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or age. There are many state and federal laws that protect individuals in these protected groups. Federal laws include the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, among other laws, that prohibits sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
There are also many state laws that provide protections against discrimination. If you have questions about the laws in your particular state, speak with a lawyer from our firm. Our legal team takes cases nationwide.
