Labor Dept. rules UConn underpaid females on 2014 women's basketball coaching staff

[eebmg]

Well, a bit of a downer. Guessing it was some logistical oversight but not the best look

UConn, responding to an email request from The 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).

UConn underpaid women, Labor Dept. says

The U.S. Labor Department found that UConn underpaid females on the women's basketball staff compared to men in similar jobs.

www.espn.com

 

[j66kicker]

Hmmm. I bet a lot of people would like to be as underpaid as Chris Dailey

 

[eebmg]

Hmmm. I bet a lot of people would like to be as underpaid as Chris Dailey

Well, she single handedly developed Dolson, Stewie and Stokes.

 

[msf22b]

Such a ruling would have had to be in reaction to a formal complaint filed...
Does anyone know anything about that?
I certainly don't remember hearing anything about it.
Amazing what drops out of the blue...and you have to work your way backwards in order to understand the full story.

 

[eebmg]

Such a ruling would have had to be in reaction to a formal complaint filed...
Does anyone know anything about that?
I certainly don't remember hearing anything about it.
Amazing what drops out of the blue...and you have to work your way backwards in order to understand the full story.

Well, in the article, UConn said it was 'self identified" so perhaps it was not driven by an individual complaint??

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said 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 identified the issue on its own and already has paid one employee $92,290 in adjusted compensation. The school did not identify that employee.

 

[sarals24]

Good for them for fixing it.

 

[topogigio]

I don't want to hear UConn officials crying about the lack of funding when assistant coaches, men and women each make well over 200K/yr. That may be the going rate for Div. 1 programs, but damn, that is a lot of money!

 

[Carnac]

I don't want to hear UConn officials crying about the lack of funding when assistant coaches, men and women each make well over 200K/yr. That may be the going rate for Div. 1 programs, but damn, that is a lot of money!

Yes, it is a lot of money, and don't we both wish that we were deemed to be worth THAT kind of salary?
It's been said that (sports teams) "you are what your record says you are". There's another saying...................."You're worth whatever someone is willing to pay you". I never hate on another person's salary. If they have a skill, expertise or experience that demands that type of financial compensation, good for them. I'm glad to read that these ladies received their just compensation. Good for them. Women head basketball coaches will NEVER be paid the same thing as their male counterparts. Their targets are the highest paid female BB head coaches.

The salaries of some of the P-5 head football coaches are astronomical, Most of them are the highest paid state employees in their state. Nick Saban's (Alabama) salary for 1 year is $8,600,000. Saban is the only coach who has more total compensation in 2020 than Ed Orgeron of LSU. Saban's total compensation is $9.3 million in 2020. Orgeron is at $8.9 million in total pay. Dabo Swinney (Clemson) is third and is followed by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher.

They pay it to Saban because they feel he's worth it. He's not holding a gun to anyone's head, or twisting any arms. They are paying it to him GLADLY. If Alabama wasn't paying him, another institution would. Texas would love to have him as their HC, and can more than afford to insure that he remains the highest paid head football coach in America.!

I have a daughter, and granddaughters. Many of us here do. We want them ALL to be fairly/equally compensated for the work they do. Who are the highest paid women D-1 basketball coaches? I would imagine they would include the "old guard" coaches i.e., Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), Kim Mulkey (Baylor), and even though she's not THAT old, Dawn Staley (South Carolina).

C.Vivian Stringer (Rutgers) is old guard. She entering her 50th year in coaching. Here is Stringer's annual salary: Oct. 25, 2017 through June 30, 2018: $775,000. She earned $1.6 million in 2014. In May of 2019, the Rutgers Board of Governors unanimously approved a four-year contract extension with C. Vivian Stringer that will guarantee the Hall of Fame women's basketball coach $3.4 million in salary from the university through the 2020-21 season.

Staley will receive $15,000 for winning 11 or more SEC games, $100,000 for winning the SEC regular-season and tournament titles, $25,000 for being named SEC Coach of the Year, and $15,000 for finishing in the Top 25 of the final polls. That's $155,000 added to her 2019-20 salary of $1.6 million. Mar 18, 2020

 

[azfan]

Well, a bit of a downer. Guessing it was some logistical oversight but not the best look

UConn, responding to an email request from The 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).

UConn underpaid women, Labor Dept. says

The U.S. Labor Department found that UConn underpaid females on the women's basketball staff compared to men in similar jobs.

www.espn.com

Moneymakers: A look into the business side of Division I college athletics - The Arizona State Press

Division I athletics have created a specific model to help drive revenue.

www.statepress.com

 

[Ozimoto]

I suspect that UConn is not the only school that will have to deal with this moving forward.

 

[DeeHusky]

I suspect that UConn is not the only school that will have to deal with this moving forward.

Definitely not. I would’ve thought schools like Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, North Carolina would’ve dealt with it before UConn

 

[Alydar]

From the article it appears that the two law professors must have filed a complaint with the Labor Dept and the UConn coaches shared the administrative title with them. They no doubt showed that the males who held those titles (deemed equivalent) were paid more than the females. It's got to be a short list The wbb coaches got swept up in the decision.

It's found money. Happened to me today when my mortgage company, due to their mistake on posting my payments, sent me a check. $0.16.

 

[CocoHusky]

I suspect that UConn is not the only school that will have to deal with this moving forward.

I'm having a hard time making sense of this based on what I know about other schools. Having been blessed with two daughters, I'm all in favor of anything that puts more money in to women's pockets especially in a sport I happen to love. The gist of the article is that some UCONN WBB assistant coaches and a female football staff member were making less than their male counterparts at UCONN. I'm not saying that is right or fair. But isn't that the norm and what was the basis to determine UCONN was out of step? As an example the UMASS Men's basketball coach makes about 5X the salary of the women's basketball coach.

 

[HGN]

It's untold who may have filed the complaint, but it didn't stop the coaching staff from doing their job , because the Wbb team won the NC that 2014 year. Most schools make the argument that their Men's basketball program generate more revenue than their women's bb program. Thus , they pay the Men's coach(s) more. I'm not sure Uconn can make that claim as the Wbb program draw as many fans and generally has been playing deeper into the NCAA Tournament each year.

 

[Carnac]

Moneymakers: A look into the business side of Division I college athletics - The Arizona State Press

Division I athletics have created a specific model to help drive revenue.

www.statepress.com

Thanks azfan for posting this. This article highlights the longstanding salary disparity between women and men coaches in D1 basketball. [ ]

 

[Carnac]

From the article it appears that the two law professors must have filed a complaint with the Labor Dept and the UConn coaches shared the administrative title with them. They no doubt showed that the males who held those titles (deemed equivalent) were paid more than the females. It's got to be a short list The wbb coaches got swept up in the decision.

It's found money. Happened to me today when my mortgage company, due to their mistake on posting my payments, sent me a check. $0.16.

Good for you. Quick Alydar, invest that 0.16 cents and try to turn it into a dollar.

 

[Steelerone]

From the article it appears that the two law professors must have filed a complaint with the Labor Dept and the UConn coaches shared the administrative title with them. They no doubt showed that the males who held those titles (deemed equivalent) were paid more than the females. It's got to be a short list The wbb coaches got swept up in the decision.

It's found money. Happened to me today when my mortgage company, due to their mistake on posting my payments, sent me a check. $0.16.

Alydar, have you decided where you are going to spend that money? If not my cousin knows a guy who has a cousin working at a deli around Wall St. and he might be able to pick up some tips.

 

[UConnCat]

 

[HuskyV]

Most schools make the argument that their Men's basketball program generate more revenue than their women's bb program. Thus , they pay the Men's coach(s) more. I'm not sure Uconn can make that claim as the Wbb program draw as many fans and generally has been playing deeper into the NCAA Tournament each year.

Take a look at ticket prices and required donations. Not true, not close.

I am sure many voluntarily donate to ensure the injustice is eliminated.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Hmmm. I bet a lot of people would like to be as underpaid as Chris Dailey

I agree. Many people would like to be underpaid like CD. However, none of them could deliver the results like CD. Which is why she should be paid more than any other women's associate head basketball coach. I mean way more!

 

[Plebe]

I'm having a hard time making sense of this based on what I know about other schools. Having been blessed with two daughters, I'm all in favor of anything that puts more money in to women's pockets especially in a sport I happen to love. The gist of the article is that some UCONN WBB assistant coaches and a female football staff member were making less than their male counterparts at UCONN. I'm not saying that is right or fair. But isn't that the norm and what was the basis to determine UCONN was out of step? As an example the UMASS Men's basketball coach makes about 5X the salary of the women's basketball coach.

I'm just as confused on this. The article's first paragraph states clearly that UConn WBB coaching staff were found to have been "underpaid when compared with men in similar positions." So what about all the universities where the compensation for MBB coaches dwarfs that for WBB coaches? Does anyone really think Suzy Merchant should be making as much as Tom Izzo?

 

[the Q]

I thought this was an accounting error or something.

This is just free, completely unearned money?

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm just as confused on this. The article's first paragraph states clearly that UConn WBB coaching staff were found to have been "underpaid when compared with men in similar positions." So what about all the universities where the compensation for MBB coaches dwarfs that for WBB coaches? Does anyone really think Suzy Merchant should be making as much as Tom Izzo?

Thankfully I was sent some information which greatly but not fully clarifies the situation as it relates to the WBB positions. The key to understanding it is the position designations that UCONN had established.
Let's say the university established 3 levels for Law Professor. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Theoretically all Level 1 Law professors should be making roughly the same salary give equal years of experience and similar performance history etc. What the audit revealed was that in the cases of the Law professors, WBB assistant coaches, football Dir of Operations that was not the case. We do something similar yearly at my company just to identify and correct significant outliers where two people with similar years of experience doing the same job and having the same performance history have "significantly" different salaries. Significantly changes every year but it is usually above 10% difference. That completely makes sense for law professors and my job. What still doesn't make sense to me is why not have separate position designations for WBB MBB. Separate position designations would allow you to pay different salaries for WBB and MBB assistant coaches. I also don't understand why this is a federal Department of Labor issue vs inequity among the employees of the state of CT.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Thankfully I was sent some information which greatly but not fully clarifies the situation as it relates to the WBB positions. The key to understanding it is the position designations that UCONN had established.
Let's say the university established 3 levels for Law Professor. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Theoretically all Level 1 Law professors should be making roughly the same salary give equal years of experience and similar performance history etc. What the audit revealed was that in the cases of the Law professors, WBB assistant coaches, football Dir of Operations that was not the case. We do something similar yearly at my company just to identify and correct significant outliers where two people with similar years of experience doing the same job and having the same performance history have "significantly" different salaries. Significantly changes every year but it is usually above 10% difference. That completely makes sense for law professors and my job. What still doesn't make sense to me is why not have separate position designations for WBB MBB. Separate position designations would allow you to pay different salaries for WBB and MBB assistant coaches. I also don't understand why this is a federal Department of Labor issue vs inequity among the employees of the state of CT.

Its as clear as mud. The article also references "pay levels". I think comparing men's and women's basketball coach salaries is probably overly simplistic, as stated typically coaches of men's basketball make more than women's basketball - in fact, the UConn salaries indicated were surprising, comparatively.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Take a look at ticket prices and required donations. Not true, not close.

I am sure many voluntarily donate to ensure the injustice is eliminated.

Well obviously it isn't at UConn, but my wife and I have voluntarily donated only to women's sports - at Rutgers until we moved west and at Arizona since. I will be honest that part of my donation out here is for a Capital campaign, but that is not for only men's sports, either. Of course, football tickets include a "donation".


But by choice, I donate to women's sports - WBB, Women's Volleyball and Softball here at Arizona.

At Rutgers, we had a fundraiser tell us that there are many folks who will only give to men's program, in fact part of her job was to entice them to give to women's sports. Oddly enough, she also said that financial is not the only support women's teams need - fannies in the seats are important. While it isn't a problem for UConn WBB, it is obviously a big problem for many women's teams.