An uproar has erupted in the U.S. as just days after the men’s and women’s teams won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, a serious complaint has come out of the basketball arena. Los Angeles Sparks forward Dirika Huby, sued her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, and the WNBA in federal court on Monday, charged with workplace discrimination and retaliation stemming from her pregnancy.
The complainant claims that the coach of the Aces, Becky Hammonaccused Hubby of signing a contract extension with the team while she was knowingly pregnant. Hubby said she found out she was pregnant with her second child a month after signing the extension during the 2022 season. Hubby claims Hammon said Aces staff believed she would “she was pregnant again, for the third time». When Hubby asked Hammon if the exchange took place because she was pregnant, Hammon did not deny it, according to the lawsuit.
The Eises traded Haby to the Sparks in January 2023after spending eight seasons with the San Antonio/Las Vegas team. She won the top Sixth Player of the Year award in 2019 and 2020 while being an All-Star in 2021 and 2022.
OR Hubby also blames the WNBA that it did not adequately investigate her complaint when he initially brought it to the league offices. And after filing the complaint, Hobby’s marketing contract with the league was not renewed.
“We are aware of today’s legal filing and are reviewing the complaint,” the WNBA said in a statement to The Athletic.
H Hamon denied abusing Hubby in a press conference before the start of the 2023 season, saying that “as soon as I made the phone call that the decision was made to trade her in, that’s when it all came crashing down».
That year, the WNBA suspended Hammon for two games for violating its “Respect in the Workplace” policy due to private comments the coach made about Hubby’s pregnancy.
Monday’s lawsuit revealed that the Aces allegedly agreed to cover Hubby’s oldest child’s private school tuition in the form of a “donation” to the school.
Hubby, 30, is averaging 19.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists this year, all career highs, in 24 games.
Source: Sport Fm
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