Federal Judge in N.Y. Refuses to Dismiss Race-Based Practices Suit Against MetLife.

A federal judge rejected Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.'s motion to dismiss a suit charging that the insurer discriminated against blacks for decades through its sales of life insurance policies.

Judge Harold Baer Jr., sitting in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled that the plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status for their lawsuit, presented "material issues of fact on company practices" sufficient to allow their complaint to move forward.

"Specifically, plaintiffs have put forward several ways in which they claim the defendant purposefully acted to conceal its conduct," Baer ruled.

MetLife spokesman Kevin Foley said the company wasn't prepared to comment in detail on the judge's finding or the lawsuit. "The judge's ruling is a procedural one and doesn't address the merits of the case," Foley said. "We don't know when the next court date is. There are still procedural issues to be resolved, including whether the judge will certify this as a class action."

Foley said the legal procedures are likely to be lengthy.

The lawsuit, Thompson vs. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., alleges that the insurer, now MetLife Inc., targeted the sale of "substandard" life policies that were more expensive for what they offered specifically to blacks.

"A MetLife document submitted by the plaintiffs shows that the practice of limiting or eliminating commissions was quite successful and prevented African Americans from puchasing any policy but the weekly industrial pollcy," Baer wrote in his finding.