A man is officially out of a job after sending a racist text message last month to Dearica Hamby.
Acclaro Medical, a medical equipment supplier based in Rhode Island, revealed this week that they have terminated one of their employees after he allegedly sent a racist message to the Los Angeles Sparks star Hamby. In a statement to USA Today Sports, Acclaro Medical confirmed that the man was no longer with the company after they initially suspended him in the wake of the scandal.
“Acclaro Medical is aware of the deeply disturbing situation on social media,” said the company. “Acclaro Medical sympathizes with everyone who has been affected by this situation. The Company takes this matter extremely seriously and is conducting a thorough investigation.”
On Aug. 22, Hamby, a three-time WNBA All-Star forward, was ejected from a game against the Connecticut Sun for striking Sun counterpart Raegan Beers. On Aug. 24, Hamby took to social media to expose the racist message that she had received in the wake of the incident (which included the N-word as well as a monkey emoji).
Hamby’s post included the unredacted phone number of the person whom it came from. USA Today’s report notes that Internet sleuths were able to identify the man responsible by reverse-searching the phone number (though it remains unclear how the man obtained Hamby’s cell phone number in the first place).
The 32-year-old Hamby, who is averaging 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on the year for the Sparks, is not the only WNBA player to receive racist treatment this season. Las Vegas Aces star Chelsea Gray also spoke out in July about a racist message that was also sent to her after a game.