The WNBA and the Aces have filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by former Las Vegas player Dearica Hamby, alleging abuse during her pregnancy.
Hamby filed the lawsuit about a month ago, alleging that the Aces discriminated against her and retaliated against her, leading to her being traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023.
The league argued that Hamby has no standing to sue the WNBA because she is not employed there. The motions to dismiss were filed Wednesday.
The WNBA also disputed her claim that the league failed to properly investigate her allegations. The league suspended Aces coach Becky Hammon for two games without pay in May 2023 and stripped the Aces of their 2025 first-round draft pick for providing impermissible player benefits in connection with Hamby.
The WNBA also denied that it did not renew Hamby’s marketing agreement with the league as a form of retaliation. The league pointed to the nine-month gap between her complaint and the expiration of the contract as evidence of a lack of causation.
The two-time reigning champion Aces argued in the motion that Hamby had failed to provide evidence of retaliation or discrimination.
“Hamby’s complaint alleges that the Aces traded away the rights to her contract because she was pregnant and retaliated against her after she posted on social media about the alleged pregnancy discrimination,” the club said in its filing. “… Hamby’s false allegations against the Aces fall short of a plausible claim for damages.”
Hamby, who won a bronze medal in the women’s 3×3 basketball event at this year’s Olympics, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September and amended the complaint in October.
According to her lawsuit against the WNBA and the Aces, the commission ruled in May that she had the “right to litigate.”
“The WNBA is, at its core, a workplace, and federal law has long protected pregnant women from employment discrimination,” Hamby’s attorneys said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. “The world champion Aces banned Dearica Hamby for being pregnant and the WNBA responded with a light slap on the wrist. Every potential mother in the league now knows that giving birth can change their career prospects overnight. That just doesn’t make sense in one of the most prosperous and dynamic women’s professional sports leagues in America.”
Hammon responded forcefully to a question during the press conference after the Aces defeated the Sparks on Aug. 18, six days after the lawsuit was filed.
“I’ve been in the WNBA or the NBA for 25 years,” Hammon said at the time. “I’ve never had a complaint with HR. Never, not once. I still haven’t had one because Dearica didn’t file one. She didn’t file a complaint with the players union, she didn’t file a complaint with the WNBA. Those are facts.
“It’s also a fact that no one made a decision to trade her until Atlanta called us in January (2023). That’s a fact. So … it just didn’t happen.”
Hammon said in May 2023 that Hamby was traded to allow the club to sign Candace Parker, a player likely to be in the Hall of Fame in the future.
Hamby, an All-Star for the third time in four seasons, is averaging career highs of 16.9 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. She was a two-time WNBA Sixth Player of the Year for the Aces.
The WNBA is also exploring a two-year sponsorship deal between the Aces and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority that would pay each player $25,000 per month and up to $100,000 per season.