Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images
In a May 6, 2025 decision, the Nevada federal court permitted a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit by Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby against her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, to proceed. The court did, however, dismiss Hamby’s allegations against the WNBA. The case is a bad look for the Aces and the WNBA, the public nature of which is the result of a narrow arbitration provision in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA).
Dearica Hamby’s Lawsuit
Hamby entered the 2022 season, her eighth with the Aces, as a pending free agent. However, on June 28, 2022, about six weeks into the season, Hamby and the Aces signed a two-year contract extension through the 2024 season.
According to Hamby, a few weeks later on July 18, 2022, she discovered for the first time that she was pregnant with her second child. Hamby confirmed the pregnancy at an August 8, 2022 doctor’s appointment. She alleges that at some unspecified date thereafter that she informed Natalie Williams, the Aces’ General Manager, of the pregnancy.
Hamby continued playing and helped the Aces to the 2022 title. On September 20, 2022, during the Aces’ victory parade, Hamby publicly announced her pregnancy.
After that announcement, Hamby claims that the team’s attitude toward her took a negative turn. In the fall of 2022, Hamby claims that the Aces failed to pay promised tuition for her daughter and also requested that she vacate team-provided housing.
Then, in a January 15, 2023 call between Hamby and Aces’ head coach Becky Hammon, Hamby claims that Hammon chastised her for not taking precautions against getting pregnant, questioned her commitment to the team and her work ethic and accused Hamby of signing her contract extension knowing that she was pregnant and without informing the team (which would be a violation of the CBA). Hamby denied Hammon’s claims and insisted that she would be ready for the next season after giving birth in the offseason.
Six days later, on January 21, 2023, the Aces traded Hamby to the Los Angeles Sparks.
Fallout From Dearica Hamby’s Lawsuit
On the day her trade was announced, Hamby made her allegations public in a social media post. Two days later, the WNBPA requested the WNBA to investigate Hamby’s claims, which it did.
On May 16, 2023, the WNBA announced the results – but not the details – of its investigation. The league rescinded the Aces’ 2025 first round Draft pick “for violating league rules regarding impermissible benefits” and suspended Hammon two games “for violating league and team Respect in the Workplace policies.” The WNBA said its investigation included “interviews with 33 people and a review of numerous texts, emails and other documents.”
The Aces at that time issued a statement expressing that they were “deeply disappointed by the outcome of the WNBA investigation” and supporting Hammon. Hamby countered that the WNBA did not interview any other Aces players and otherwise failed to sufficiently address the wrongful conduct.
Hamby gave birth to a son on March 6, 2023 and timely reported to training camp for the Sparks on April 28, 2023. She then played all 40 games in the 2023 season, averaging 8.9 points per game. She had her best season ever in 2024, averaging 17.3 points per game.
Dearica Hamby’s Legal Claims
Hamby’s lawsuit alleges the Aces discriminated against her in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That law prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, religion, national origin, color, and sex, including pregnancy. In December 2022, Congress amended the law via the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees or those with pregnancy-related conditions. However, that law did not take effect until June 2023, after the relevant dates in Hamby’s lawsuit and thus is not applicable to her case.
Hamby also alleges that the Aces retaliated against her by telling Aces players and staff not to communicate with her, claiming Hamby knew she was pregnant when she signed her contract extension, attempting to obtain her medical records, refusing to invite her to a White House celebration, and prohibiting the Aces’ video staff from showing Hamby’s daughter on the video screen at a game, something that they had previously done.
Finally, Hamby claimed that the WNBA retaliated against her by conducting an inadequate investigation and failing to extend a league marketing contract with her. Hamby’s claims against the WNBA relied on the legal claim that the WNBA is her joint employer, i.e., that the WNBA exercises sufficient control over the terms and conditions of her employment such that it could be considered her employer alongside the Aces.
The Court’s Decision
The court ruled that Hamby had plausibly alleged that the Aces had unlawfully retaliated against her as a result of her pregnancy by: (1) not inviting her to the White House; and (2) prohibiting its staff from displaying Hamby’s daughter on the video board.
However, the court found that Hamby had not sufficiently described the temporal connection between the revelation of her pregnancy and the alleged acts of retaliation, including the Aces’ alleged directive to players and staff not to communicate with Hamby, Williams’ implication in a radio interview that Hamby had been aware of the pregnancy since June 2022, and the Aces’ alleged efforts to obtain Hamby’s medical records. The court granted Hamby permission to amend her complaint to clarify the details around these allegations.
The court dismissed Hamby’s claims against the WNBA, holding that the alleged inadequate investigation without any alleged additional harm is insufficient as a matter of law to constitute an adverse employment action for purposes of a Title VII retaliation claim. Additionally, Hamby’s claims of discrimination based on the WNBA’s non-renewal of her marketing contract were barred because Hamby had not first brought the claim before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As a result of these conclusions, the court did not have to address the joint employer issue.
The court also had to consider whether Hamby sufficiently alleged harm to pursue her claims, given that she never suffered a reduction in pay. Relying on the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis which lowered the bar in establishing harm, the court found that Hamby sufficiently alleged harm in moving from the Aces to the Sparks because the Sparks have been less successful and because Hamby is less likely to earn endorsement opportunities in the saturated Los Angeles market as compared to Las Vegas.
The Aces did not respond to a request for comment.
Case Wide Open
One of the interesting aspects of Hamby’s lawsuit is that it exists at all. Many American employers require their employees to agree to a private arbitration process for the resolution of any disputes related to or arising out of an employee’s employment with that employer. Such provisions are generally broadly drafted to include any and all types of claims, including but not limited to breach of contract, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and unpaid wages. Employers generally prefer these arrangements since arbitration does not include public filings or hearings, is considered faster and cheaper, and avoids the risks associated with jury trials.
However, in situations where employees are represented by a union which negotiates a CBA with the employer on behalf of the employees, that agreement typically only requires that claims asserting a violation of the agreement need to be arbitrated – not all claims related to the employment relationship. The arbitration provisions governing all of the major American sports leagues are similar.
Indeed, the same is true here, the WNBA and WNBPA CBA only requires arbitration of disputes involving the “interpretation of, application of, or compliance with the provisions of” the CBA. Hamby’s action arises out of federal law and generally does not allege violations of her contract or the CBA.
Further on this point, the CBA provides that none of the WNBA, its teams, or the WNBPA will “discriminate in the interpretation or application” of the CBA “because of religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status” or involvement with the WNBPA. Notably, this provision does not reference pregnancy.
In October 2024, the WNBPA opted out of the parties’ CBA, effective after the season starting this Friday. While the CBA already provides that players are to receive 100% of their base salary while unable to play because of pregnancy, Hamby’s case suggests that there may be additional pregnancy-related issues to discuss in the forthcoming negotiations. The league may also want to consider the scope of its arbitration clause.
In the meantime, both parties should be incentivized to settle the matter. The Aces and WNBA would certainly prefer that its recent surge in popularity not be clouded by allegations that it is insufficiently supporting its players in one of the most important aspects of their lives. From Hamby’s perspective, she is now at a point in the litigation in which she should be able to secure and accept a meaningful settlement, particularly given that her economic damages are highly questionable.
