Eleanor DuboisChicago Sky announced this week that they are waiving Hailey Van Lith, the 11th overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft, ahead of the 2026 season. The stated reason: "style of play preference." Van Lith's representatives are reportedly in active conversations with multiple teams as she enters the waiver wire.
For the former TCU standout, it's a jarring pivot after a rookie year in which she appeared in 29 games for the Sky. But her situation raises questions far beyond basketball — questions that any employee with a contract might recognize immediately.
The WNBA's New CBA and What It Means for Player Rights
The timing is notable. The WNBA and the WNBA Players Association reached a landmark new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2026, a seven-year deal running through 2032 that significantly expanded player protections. Under the new CBA:
- Teams can no longer trade a pregnant player without her explicit consent — a provision added after the Dearica Hamby lawsuit alleged she was traded because she was pregnant
- Players with more than two years of service qualify for family planning benefits, covering adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing, and fertility treatments
- Non-birthing partners can take paid leave to be with newborns
- Starting in 2027, players with seven or more years of service cannot be designated as Core Players without their consent
What the new CBA does not fundamentally change: teams retain broad discretion to waive players, especially early in a career, for non-discriminatory reasons. "Style of play preference" is legal, if painful, under both the CBA and US employment law.
The Parallel That Every Contracted Employee Should Recognize
Van Lith's situation mirrors a scenario that employment lawyers see regularly outside of sports: a person with a signed, defined-term contract gets cut loose with language that sounds subjective and hard to challenge.
In Canada, employment law provides stronger protections than many employees realize — and also stronger than the at-will employment doctrine that governs most US workers. Here is what the law says:
Fixed-term contracts: If you signed a contract for a specified duration (say, one year or one season), your employer generally cannot terminate without cause before that date unless they pay out the remaining term of the contract. Van Lith's WNBA contract includes a guaranteed structure — this is why "active conversations" are possible; teams know she has leverage.
Subjective terminations: Reasons like "cultural fit," "communication style," or — like Van Lith's case — "style of play preference" are vague and can be difficult to challenge legally. In Canada, however, an employer who terminates for pretextual reasons while hiding the real motivation (pregnancy, disability, whistleblowing) may face a human rights complaint or wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
Notice and severance obligations: Even in terminations that are legally valid in Canada, employers must provide statutory notice (or pay in lieu) under the Employment Standards Act in most provinces. Depending on tenure and contract terms, this can amount to weeks or months of compensation.
Implied terms of good faith: Canadian courts have increasingly held that employers owe employees a duty of good faith and honest dealing in the manner of dismissal. A termination that is technically legal but handled in a way that causes unnecessary harm to an employee's reputation — such as citing vague performance issues in a public statement — can attract damages beyond basic severance.
What Van Lith Can Expect Legally
In Van Lith's case, the relevant framework is the WNBA CBA and US labor law. Absent proof of a prohibited discriminatory motivation, the waiver is almost certainly legal — that is the nature of professional sports contracts, which build in team discretion during certain roster windows.
What Van Lith's team will be focused on:
- Whether any guaranteed money in her contract must be paid out even after the waiver
- Whether the stated reason (play preference) conflicts with any documented team communication that could support a different claim
- Negotiating the most favorable landing spot quickly, before the waiver window closes
According to Canada's federal employment standards on termination and severance, federally regulated employees have the right to file an unjust dismissal complaint if terminated without just cause after 12 months of continuous employment — a protection that does not exist for US at-will workers like Van Lith.
What Ordinary Employees Can Take from This
Whether you play in the WNBA or work in an office in Calgary or Toronto, the lesson is the same: your contract is your most important protection, and you should understand it before you ever need it.
Before signing any employment contract, a Canadian employment lawyer can explain:
- Whether the termination clauses are enforceable under provincial standards
- Whether "for cause" definitions in the contract meet the legal threshold (many do not)
- Whether non-compete and non-solicitation clauses are reasonable and legally binding
- How to negotiate garden leave provisions or enhanced severance if you are in a senior or specialized role
The Kiki Rice equity deal that made headlines at the 2026 WNBA Draft showed how athletes at the top of their game are negotiating novel contract structures. Van Lith's waiver is a reminder that contract sophistication matters on the way out, not just the way in.
When to Talk to an Employment Lawyer
If you've recently been terminated — or fear you might be — and any of the following apply, you should consult an employment lawyer before signing any severance agreement or releasing your employer from claims:
- The stated reason for termination is vague or contradicts recent positive performance reviews
- You were on parental leave, had recently disclosed a health condition, or made a workplace complaint shortly before termination
- Your severance offer is lower than your contract's guaranteed amount or the statutory minimum for your province
- You signed a non-compete clause and are unsure whether it's enforceable
On ExpertZoom, Canadian employment lawyers are available for direct consultations — including urgent reviews of termination documents and severance agreements before you sign anything irreversible.
