The University of Connecticut has agreed to pay a total of just under $250,000 to seven female employees, including five working in athletics, after the U.S. Labor Department found the school had been paying higher salaries to their male counterparts.
As reported by The Associated Press, UConn has agreed to pay a total of $249,539 to two law professors and five women who hold the title of Specialist IA and Specialist IIA in its athletic department. Announced Monday, the agreement follows a review by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
School spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said the findings date from between 2012 and 2014 and the school contends each case had “complexities that were unique to those employees, but which UConn maintains was not due to gender.”
She said the school self-identified the issue and has already paid one employee $92,290 in adjusted compensation. The school did not identify the employees, their specific duties or the teams with which they were associated.
The Labor Department said the school also has agreed to perform an in-depth analyses of its total employment process and revise any pay practices and implement improved policies to eliminate the possibility of gender discrimination in pay.
“The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is satisfied that the University of Connecticut has addressed the pay issues found in our review,” Craig Leen, the director of the Labor Department’s compliance officer said in a statement.
