Labor department says women’s basketball coaches were underpaid

STORRS — The University of Connecticut has agreed to pay a total of just under $250,000 to seven women, including four members of Geno Auriemma’s 2014 women’s basketball coaching staff, after the U.S. Labor Department found they had been underpaid when compared with men in similar positions.

A total of $249,539 will go to the women, who were identified by the Labor Department as two law professors and five womenwhohold the title of Specialist IA and Specialist IIA in the school’s athletic department.

UConn, responding to an email request from Associated Press, identified those employees by title as its women’s associate head basketball coach (Chris Dailey), the team’s two assistant coaches in 2014 (Shea Ralph and Marisa Moseley), the director of women’s basketball operations (Sarah Darras) and the director of football operations (Sarah Lawless).

The agreement follows a review by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said the school contends each case had“complexities that were unique to those employees, but whichUConnmaintains was not due to gender.”

Shesaid the school identified the issue on its ownand already has paid oneunidentified employee $92,290 in adjusted compensation.

But the Labor Department said it found that significant pay disparities remained “even when legitimate factors affecting pay were taken into account.”