Dearica Hamby’s pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA ended on December 11, 2025, when the three-time All-Star and the Aces filed a mutual agreement to dismiss the case with prejudice on undisclosed terms.1The Athletic (New York Times). Dearica Hamby Aces Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Dropped Before that resolution, a federal judge had dismissed the WNBA from the case but allowed Hamby’s core claim, that the Aces traded her in January 2023 because she was pregnant, to move forward toward trial.2Los Angeles Times. Dearica Hamby Lawsuit: WNBA Dismissed, Aces Continues
What Hamby Said Happened
Hamby signed a two-year contract extension with the Aces in June 2022, weeks before the team won the WNBA championship. She learned she was pregnant on July 18, 2022, confirmed it at a doctor’s appointment the following month, and told Aces General Manager Natalie Williams shortly afterward.3Constangy.com. Hamby’s Pregnancy Suit Survives, Exposes Limits of WNBA Arbitration Provision She announced the pregnancy publicly during the Aces’ championship parade on September 20, 2022.4ESPN. Dearica Hamby Claims Aces Unethical Trade to Sparks
According to her complaint, the team’s treatment shifted afterward. The Aces allegedly stopped paying private school tuition for her daughter and told her to leave team-provided housing, both of which she said had been part of her extension. On January 15, 2023, head coach Becky Hammon called her. The complaint alleges Hammon questioned whether the pregnancy was planned, called Hamby “a question mark,” accused her of signing the extension while knowingly pregnant, and questioned her off-season workouts. When Hamby asked, “You’re trading me because I’m pregnant?”, Hammon allegedly replied, “What do you want me to do?”5NPR. Dearica Hamby Discrimination Lawsuit Aces WNBA
Six days later, on January 21, 2023, the Aces traded Hamby and a 2024 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Sparks for a second-round pick and the negotiating rights to Amanda Zahui B.4ESPN. Dearica Hamby Claims Aces Unethical Trade to Sparks Hamby went public that same day, saying she had been “traumatized” by the organization’s treatment.6CBS Sports. WNBA Suspends Becky Hammon for Dearica Hamby Comments, Aces Stripped of First-Round Pick After Investigation
Hammon has denied any discrimination. She said the trade “came down to math and business,” pointing to salary cap space the Aces needed to sign other players, and described her contact with Hamby as “over-the-top care, actually.”7ESPN. Hammon Stands Firm in Denial Las Vegas Aces Mistreated Hamby
The Lawsuit She Filed
Hamby filed an EEOC charge in September 2023 and an amended charge in October 2023.8Courthouse News. Hamby v. WNBA Complaint Her attorneys requested a right-to-sue notice, which the EEOC issued on May 23, 2024 without making findings on the merits.9ABC News. Sparks’ Dearica Hamby Sues WNBA, Aces Alleging Discrimination On August 12, 2024, she sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, case number 2:24-cv-01474-APG-DJA, represented by HKM Employment Attorneys.
The complaint named two defendants: the WNBA, LLC and Las Vegas Basketball L.P., which does business as the Aces. Hammon, Williams, and team president Nikki Fargas appeared in the factual allegations but were not sued individually.8Courthouse News. Hamby v. WNBA Complaint
Against the Aces, Hamby brought pregnancy discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978) and Nevada state anti-discrimination law, arguing the trade was motivated by her pregnancy. She added retaliation claims tied to specific acts the team allegedly took after she went public: telling staff and players to stop communicating with her, making false public statements through Williams on a radio show, trying to obtain her confidential medical records, refusing to invite her to a championship ceremony at the White House, and barring video staff from putting her daughter on the arena screen during a playoff game.8Courthouse News. Hamby v. WNBA Complaint
Against the league, she alleged retaliation through an inadequate investigation, insufficient consequences for the Aces, and the non-renewal of her WNBA marketing contract after she raised her complaints.8Courthouse News. Hamby v. WNBA Complaint
The May 2025 Ruling
On May 6, 2025, U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon issued a ruling that reshaped the case. He dismissed all claims against the WNBA with prejudice, finding that an allegedly inadequate investigation was not itself actionable retaliation and that the marketing contract allegations were barred because Hamby had not raised them in her EEOC charge.2Los Angeles Times. Dearica Hamby Lawsuit: WNBA Dismissed, Aces Continues
The judge let her pregnancy discrimination claim against the Aces proceed, finding a “reasonable inference that Aces decisionmakers were unlawfully motivated by Hamby’s pregnancy in trading her.”10Brooklyn Law School Sports and Entertainment Law Blog. Professional Athletes’ Maternity Rights: The Dearica Hamby Lawsuit He applied the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, which held that an employee challenging a job transfer under Title VII need only show “some disadvantageous change” in employment terms rather than a “significant” or “materially adverse” harm.11Supreme Court of the United States. Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, 601 U.S. ___ (2024) Under that standard, being traded from a championship team to a less successful one, with different endorsement potential, was enough.3Constangy.com. Hamby’s Pregnancy Suit Survives, Exposes Limits of WNBA Arbitration Provision
Two of her five retaliation claims against the Aces survived: exclusion from the White House ceremony and the video board ban involving her daughter. The other three were dismissed for lack of a plausible causal link, with leave to amend.10Brooklyn Law School Sports and Entertainment Law Blog. Professional Athletes’ Maternity Rights: The Dearica Hamby Lawsuit
The Aces had also argued the entire dispute belonged in arbitration under the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Judge Gordon rejected that argument, relying on the Supreme Court’s 1998 decision in Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp., which requires a “clear and unmistakable” waiver before a union-negotiated arbitration clause can force federal statutory claims out of court.12Cornell Law Institute. Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp. The WNBA CBA’s arbitration clause reached only disputes arising under the agreement itself, and while the CBA barred discrimination on grounds including race, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation, it did not mention pregnancy.3Constangy.com. Hamby’s Pregnancy Suit Survives, Exposes Limits of WNBA Arbitration Provision The case stayed in federal court.
How the Case Ended
On December 11, 2025, Hamby and the Aces filed a stipulation dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the claims cannot be refiled. Each side agreed to bear its own attorneys’ fees, and no settlement amount was disclosed.13ESPN. Dearica Hamby, Aces Drop Lawsuit Over Pregnancy Discrimination In a statement to Front Office Sports, Hamby declined to discuss the outcome but said she stands “by what I said” in her original complaint and confirmed “the case is resolved.”1The Athletic (New York Times). Dearica Hamby Aces Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Dropped The Aces did not publicly comment.
The WNBA Investigation and What Came After
The lawsuit was not the first review of what happened. After Hamby went public in January 2023, the WNBA opened an investigation, conducting 33 interviews and bringing in former prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.14ESPN. Aces’ Becky Hammon Denies Bullying Following WNBA Sanctions On May 16, 2023, the league announced that the Aces had promised “impermissible benefits” during Hamby’s extension talks and that Hammon had violated league and team “Respect in the Workplace” policies through comments about the pregnancy. The league stripped the Aces of their 2025 first-round draft pick and suspended Hammon for two games without pay.15WNBA. WNBA Penalties Aces Investigation Separate allegations of under-the-table payments could not be substantiated.6CBS Sports. WNBA Suspends Becky Hammon for Dearica Hamby Comments, Aces Stripped of First-Round Pick After Investigation The players’ union called the discipline “far from appropriate.”16ESPN. Dearica Hamby Pregnancy Allegations: What Do Laws and WNBA CBA Say
The dispute also shaped labor negotiations. In March 2026, the WNBA and WNBPA ratified a new seven-year CBA running through 2032, approved unanimously by the union with over 90 percent participation.17CBS Sports. WNBA CBA News: Deal Details, Salaries Explainer Among its new provisions is a rule prohibiting teams from trading pregnant players without their consent, aimed directly at the situation Hamby alleged.18Sports Business Journal. Full Court Protection: WNBA’s New CBA Addresses Pregnancy Retaliation The agreement also created a pregnancy and childbirth salary cap exception and expanded parental resources, including a requirement that teams allow dependent children under 13 to travel with the team.