Gay lawyers in New York report bias on the job.

A majority of gay and lesbian lawyers recently surveyed in New York City said that discriminatory treatment on the job holds them back in their careers and undermines their commitment to their employers. This perception was based on "specific differential treatment, ranging from the unavailability of equal benefits to management failure to respond to sexual orientation discrimination complaints, as well as on intangible factors relating to questions of visibility and tolerance," according to the report on the survey's results.

Other findings include:

* 25 percent of respondents said they conceal their orientation for fear of adverse professional repercussions,

* 46 percent said their employers offered no formal grievance and disciplinary procedure to handle bias incidents,

* 23 percent provided examples of "fag jokes" and other bias incidents involving court personnel, and

* 97 percent said their employers' health care benefits do not cover gays' and lesbians' domestic partners or their children.

The report recommended that legal employers make a formal commitment to equal treatment for gays and lesbians in recruitment, hiring, retention, advancement, and compensation. Employers should develop, publish, and implement antidiscrimination policies; provide staff with education and sensitivity training; give all employees comparable health care, sick and bereavement leave, and parental leave benefits; and include gay employees' domestic partners and their children in company social events.

According to the report, responding to these measures would benefit employers directly. General respect and dignity in the workplace would be enhanced, and the pool of qualified job applicants would be enlarged. These changes would also foster loyalty, productivity, and rainmaking ability in gay and lesbian lawyers and would give the more experienced among them freedom to mentor newcomers.

The survey was prepared by a special committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and distributed through the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York. Of 600 questionnaires sent out, 229 were returned. Respondents were 66 percent male and 34 percent female. Gay men made up 64 percent, lesbians 30 percent, bisexuals and heterogexuals 3 percent each. Ethnically, 93 percent were white, 3 percent black, and 2 percent Hispanic. Most respondents--64 percent--were between 30 and 40 years old.

To order a copy of the "Preliminary Report on the Experience of Lesbians and Gay Men in the Legal Profession." send a check for $11 to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th St., New York, NY 10036, attention Kelsey Geter, or call [phone].