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Dearica Hamby claims WNBA and Las Vegas Aves discriminated during pregnancy – The Washington Post – The Washington Post
WNBA player Dearica Hamby filed a gender discrimination complaint last week with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the league and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.
In the complaint, Hamby alleges the Aces and their coach, Becky Hammon, retaliated against her after she told them she was pregnant, creating an “abusive and hostile” work environment before ultimately trading her to the Los Angeles Sparks.
The WNBA, Hamby said, subsequently failed to properly investigate her allegations. Hamby spoke up about her “traumatic” experience with the Aces earlier this year, prompting an investigation by the WNBA. The league ultimately imposed a penalty against the Aces and suspended Hammon for two games.
“The league conducted a thorough investigation of the allegations and levied appropriate discipline based on its findings,” a WNBA spokesperson told The Post on Wednesday.
But Hamby’s complaint, and her naming of the league as a respondent, is an escalation of her public complaints — and a blow for the WNBA, which is preparing to announce a much-anticipated expansion team this week ahead of the Finals, which will feature Hamby’s former team.
Hamby alleges the league did not thoroughly investigate her allegations, failing to interview any current Aces players or to provide any “remedy” to Hamby after finding that the Aces had violated league rules. In the complaint, Hamby calls the shortcomings in the WNBA’s investigation “retaliation” for her public statements about the trade.
The complaint also contains stark details about the alleged treatment of Hamby by Hammon, the WNBA’s coach of the year in 2022. Hammon asked Hamby if she had planned her pregnancy, the player alleges, and accused her of not “taking precautions to not get pregnant.” Hammon told Hamby she was “not holding up [her] end of the bargain” because the Aces had not expected her to get pregnant in the two-year span of her contract extension, the complaint alleges.
After Hammon called Hamby to tell her about the team’s plans to trade her, Hamby alleges she twice asked Hammon, “You’re trading me because I’m pregnant?” Hammon, she said, responded, “What do you want me to do?”
Hamby alleges the Aces also “retaliated” against her in other ways, including by giving a “directive” to camera operators not to show images of her daughter on the videoboard. Her former teammates, Hamby said, cut off communication with her after she spoke up about her experiences.
The WNBA has been praised for its treatment of pregnant players after a historic collective bargaining agreement in 2020 offered them maternity leave at full pay and guaranteed parents two-bedroom apartments and child-care subsidies. But Hamby is not the only player to have spoken up in recent months about pregnancy discrimination. Skylar Diggins-Smith, a player for the Phoenix Mercury, spoke up about being prevented from using team practice facilities during maternity leave, saying on social media that the team “is not gonna acknowledge me this year.”
Hamby declined to comment through a representative. The Aces did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the EEOC said it could not confirm or comment on complaints, which are confidential.
