The long-running legal fight between Dearica Hamby and the Las Vegas Aces is officially over. This week, the two sides jointly asked a federal judge in Nevada to dismiss Hamby’s pregnancy-discrimination lawsuit with prejudice, closing the case for good. The move ends a high-profile saga that began after Hamby announced at a 2022 Aces celebration that she was pregnant and later claimed the team traded her because of it. Court papers say the dispute has been resolved and that each side will cover its own attorney fees, as reported by Front Office Sports.
According to Front Office Sports, the joint motion says the parties "resolved this matter and agree to dismiss this action in its entirety" and confirms that both would pay their own legal costs. Hamby declined to discuss the result with the outlet but was quoted as saying she "stands by what I said" in her original complaint.
How the suit began
Hamby filed suit against the Aces and the WNBA in August 2024, alleging the team discriminated and retaliated against her after her pregnancy announcement and that staff questioned her dedication to the franchise. The complaint claims she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023 because of that pregnancy, allegations the Aces and the league have consistently denied, as detailed by Reuters.
Where the case stood in court
In May 2025 a federal judge dismissed Hamby’s claims against the WNBA but allowed her discrimination claim against the Aces to proceed, leaving the team as the lone defendant, according to ESPN. That ruling teed up months of pretrial wrangling before the sides ultimately chose to resolve the case this week.
League penalties and prior findings
Separate from the lawsuit, the WNBA had already penalized the franchise over issues tied to Hamby’s situation, suspending head coach Becky Hammon for two games and stripping the Aces of a 2025 first-round draft pick for impermissible benefits, according to Reuters. That earlier discipline kept public attention trained on the case and on how the league handles pregnancy-related workplace complaints.
What the dismissal means legally
The joint motion asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, a legal term that bars Hamby from refiling the same claims, and reiterates that each side will bear its own attorney fees, as reported by Front Office Sports. Because the case ended by agreement rather than a ruling, there is no judicial decision on whether discrimination occurred.
Hamby’s current status
Hamby now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks and is listed as having appeared in 44 games in 2025, with her season statistics tracked by Basketball-Reference. She has maintained that she stands by the claims in her lawsuit, while the Aces did not immediately comment when news of the dismissal surfaced in major outlets.
Why the outcome matters
The resolution closes one of the WNBA’s most closely watched recent disputes, which foregrounded questions about workplace protections for pregnant athletes and how the league handles internal complaints. Those broader issues have echoed across sports media coverage, including reporting by The Guardian. For now, the legal fight is over, even if the policy debates it sparked are still very much alive.
