Subject: Judge Says Man Can Anonymously Sue For Sexual Bias
Date: Published: 12/16/88 84 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Law:  
    Man Charges Insurer With Sexual Bias;
    Judge Says He Can Sue Anonymously
    ----  
    By Amy Dockser
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    NEW YORK -- A man who claimed an insurance company
 discriminated against him because he fit a "homosexual
 profile" has sued the company, and a federal judge here ruled
 that the case can proceed without disclosure of his identity.
    The man, who says he is heterosexual, applied for life
 insurance from the United Services Life Insurance Co. in
 November 1987.  At the time of his application, he was living
 in Greenwich Village, in New York City, with another male.  In
 his complaint, the man alleged that he was required to
 undergo a special interview and take a blood test because of
 where and how he lived.
    The plaintiff said United Services, a unit of USLIC Co.,
 Arlington, Va., then raised his life insurance premium
 because it believed he was a homosexual.
    United Services said it does not discriminate based on
 sexual orientation.  Richard Lutz, a lawyer for the company,
 said the insurer insisted on a blood test only after the man
 revealed he had been arrested for public intoxication.  The
 blood test turned up an abnormal level of liver enzymes, Mr. 
 Lutz said, which indicated that the man might be abusing
 alcohol.
    Gay-rights advocates hailed the decision by Federal
 District Judge Robert W. Sweet on Wednesday to keep the
 identity of the man a secret.  The risk of being fired after
 being publicly identified as a homosexual prevents many
 people from challenging discrimination by their insurance
 companies, said Benjamin Schatz, an attorney with National
 Gay Rights Advocates in San Francisco.
    According to Mr. Schatz, there have only been a handful of
 lawsuits against insurance companies alleging discrimination
 based on sexual orientation, partly because it is a difficult
 allegation to prove.
    But gay rights advocates believe that the insurance
 industry's concern about the high cost of AIDS will prompt a
 growing number of lawsuits as more people are refused
 insurance.  In a survey conducted by the Congressional Office
 of Technology Assessment last year, 30% of the insurance
 companies said they consider sexual orientation as a factor
 in underwriting insurance.  Only some states expressly bar
 such a consideration.
    The American Council of Life Insurance, an industry trade
 association, has lobbied for states to adopt regulations that
 prohibit insurance companies from discriminating based on
 sexual orientation, said Phillip Stano, associate general
 counsel of the organization.  Mr. Stano said the organization
 does support the use of HIV-antibody test results when
 underwriting insurance, however.  The HIV antibody tests
 whether a person has been exposed to the virus that causes
 AIDS. Mr. Lutz said the anonymous plaintiff did not test
 positive for the HIV antibody.
    Courts in Massachusetts and New York recently struck down
 regulations adopted by the states' insurance commissions
 prohibiting the use of the HIV test, said Mickey J. Wheatley,
 a staff attorney with Lambda Legal Defense and Education
 Fund, Inc. California is the only state that currently
 prohibits the use of such test results by insurers, said Mr. 
 Wheatley.
    United Services argued that since it does not dispute that
 the man is heterosexual, there is no compelling reason why he
 should not disclose his name, said Mr. Lutz.  The man,
 however, said that he might be publicly identified as a
 homosexual because of the nature of the case and lose his
 job.
    In his opinion, Judge Sweet said since United Services
 already knows the man's true identity, the insurance company
 will not be at a disadvantage if he remains anonymous.  The
 judge said his decision was based on his concern for the
 man's privacy.

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