Sports

Las Vegas Aces Sued For Allegedly Discriminating Against Former Pregnant Player Dearica Hamby

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Becky Hammon

Getty Image / Steph Chambers


Las Vegas Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon is widely regarded as one of the best basketball coaches on the planet, and she’s proven that both as an NBA assistant and as a head coach in the WNBA.

But, Hammon, who is widely considered the most likely woman to get an NBA head coaching job, could be in some hot water alongside the Aces and the WNBA after a former player, Dearica Hamby, has alleged that she was traded from the Las Vegas Aces in 2023 due to being pregnant.

Here’s ESPN with more.

Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby filed a federal lawsuit against the WNBA and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, on Monday regarding her treatment from the Aces after revealing she was pregnant.

Hamby alleges that she was subject to repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination and retaliation from the Aces, leading to her January 2023 trade to the Sparks. Hamby also alleges the WNBA failed to “properly investigate” the issues

Hamby is seeking economic losses, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney’s fees, according to the lawsuit.
Here are more details on the lawsuit. The alleged evidence against Hammon and the Aces seems pretty damning.
https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/1823088420685594675
Employer discrimination against pregnant women is a violation of federal law, violating the Civil Rights Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. It protects pregnant women against not only be firing but also demotions, job assignments, pay, benefits, promotions, and so on and so forth.
The question here, assuming that the Aces and Becky Hammon indeed traded her due to being pregnant, is whether being traded by a WNBA team, which is something that every player knows can happen at pretty much any time, is a discriminatory job assignment. Legal distinctions like that are above my pay grade, but a court will have to untangle this.
Hamby recently just won a bronze medal in 3×3 Basketball for Team USA, and has been a solid WNBA player since 2015.