Acclaro Medical has fired an employee who allegedly sent a racist text message to WNBA star Dearica Hamby, a company spokesperson confirmed to USA Today.
The medical device company, based in Rhode Island, stated that the employee is no longer with Acclaro Medical after reports that he sent the Los Angeles Sparks player a text containing a racial slur and a monkey emoji.
Hamby, 32, posted a screenshot of the message to X, formerly Twitter, on Aug. 24, with the caption, “anyone know this number?” The post has garnered over 9.6 million views, and social media users identified the sender based on the visible phone number.
Acclaro Medical had previously suspended the employee pending an investigation. The company released a statement asserting that it “condemns racism, harassment, hate speech and discriminating behavior in all forms.”
The WNBA issued its own statement, saying the league “stands unequivocally with Dearica Hamby and condemns the racist abuse directed at her in the strongest possible terms.” The league added that it is “committed to holding anyone who engages in such abhorrent behavior accountable” and that the individual responsible will be permanently banned from all league games and events.
The incident occurred approximately two days after Hamby was ejected from a game for an elbow to the face of Connecticut Sun rookie Raegan Beers.
This is the second such incident in recent months involving a WNBA player being targeted with racist remarks from a fan. In July, a Hilton Grand Vacations employee was fired after Las Vegas Aces star Chelsea Gray shared a similar racist message she received on her Instagram story. Hilton Grand Vacations stated at the time that the employee's behavior violated company policies and did not reflect the company's values.
Hamby is a three-time All-Star and was part of the Aces team that won a championship in 2022. Gray, 33, is a six-time All-Star and a four-time WNBA champion.