ROBIN B. WOJTKOWIAK VS. NEW JERSEY MOTOR VEHICLE
COMMISSION AND NEW JERSEY DIVISION ON CIVIL RIGHTS
A-5341-12T4
In this LAD case, complainant asserted that her agoraphobia required the MVC to exempt her from appearing to be photographed for her driver's license. Because a court must determine whether the accommodations demanded are required to afford the services sought, the court holds that a LAD claimant has the burden to prove the extent of the disability where it is relevant to the reasonableness of the accommodations offered or demanded. When the extent of the disability is not readily apparent, expert medical evidence is required.
Because complainant's medical evidence did not clearly specify the extent of her limitations, she failed to show the accommodations offered by the MVC were unreasonable. However, given her ongoing need for a driver's license, a new claim of future acts of discrimination, supported by new and materially different evidence of her limitations at that time, would not be barred as "the same grievance" under N.J.S.A. 10:5-27.
