UofL athletic department announces layoffs and furloughs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The COVID-19 shutdown has cost 33 employees of the UofL athletic department their jobs. Seven other open positions will also not be filled.

That announcement came on Wednesday afternoon from UofL vice president of athletics Vince Tyra.

Additionally, 45 employees were given 30 day notice that they will be furloughed for an expected 60 days.

Tyra said most university employees are on one-year contracts and those contracts that are not being renewed expire on June 30.

He said that there are 325 employees in the athletic department, including coaches, but that no coaches were affected. The school had already announced that all head coaches had agreed to take a 10% salary reduction and that Tyra was forgoing $150,000 annual bonuses in each of the next two years.

In addition, employees making under $100,000 will take a 2% reduction and those making over $100,000 will take a 4% pay cut.

The cuts represented all levels of the organizational chart, including some long term employees, although no names were released.

Tyra said that UofL had spent zero time considering permanently eliminating any sports.

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