TRENTON
– The Division on Civil Rights announced
today that an Ocean county condominium association
has paid a former resident $24,000 to settle
charges it unlawfully discriminated by refusing
to move the woman’s assigned parking
space closer to her unit despite a doctor’s
letter indicating it was medically warranted.
In
addition to its payment of $24,000 to complainant
Rita Angermeier, the Leisure Village East
Association of Lakewood has paid the Division
$6,000. The association also has developed
specific policies, procedures and forms for
use in handling future requests for “reasonable
accommodation” under the Law Against
Discrimination (LAD).
A
sufferer of rheumatoid arthritis and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, Angermeier
filed a discrimination complaint against the
association in 2007. She filed the complaint
after requesting, and being denied, an assigned
parking space that would reduce the distance
of her 150-foot walk to her car. The denial
came despite a letter from Angermeier’s
doctor verifying that Angermeier had limited
capacity to walk. Because of her health issues,
Angermeier felt she could not wait for resolution
of her discrimination complaint and moved
out of Leisure Village East after filing.
Today she lives in another, unaffiliated condominium
complex where parking is within a few feet
of her door.
In
a separate settlement announced today, the
Leisure Village East Association has agreed
to accommodate resident Barbara A. Murphy-Gabat,
who uses a walker, by replacing the shuttle
bus it had been using with a bus equipped
with an activated lower step. The association
also has had a new bus stop, equipped with
a bench, built at the end of Murphy-Gabat’s
street.
Murphy-Gabat previously filed a complaint
with the Division charging that she could
not take her walker on shopping trips because
the shuttle bus leased by Leisure Village
East lacked an activated lower step –
also referred to as a “kneeling step”
-- like the shuttle bus previously employed
by the association.
“These
settlements are important, not only for the
individual complainants involved, but in a
broader sense,” said Division on Civil
Rights Director Chinh Q. Le. “Condominium
associations have a duty under the law to
make reasonable accommodation for the disabled,
and these settlements represent an acknowledgment
of that duty by the Leisure Village East Association.
It’s our hope these cases will serve
as a reminder, and an example, for condominium
associations throughout the state.”
The Leisure Village East association administers
1,414 ground-level condominiums that provide
housing for approximately 2,500 Lakewood residents
in what is described as an active adult community.
Under
terms of the settlements with Angermeier and
Murphy-Gabat, the condominium association
has posted a “Notice of Right of Reasonable
Accommodation” that advises residents
on how to request such an accommodation, promises
a written response to requests within 14 days,
and indicates that residents can appeal if
their requests are denied.
The Angermeier and Murphy-Gabat
cases were handled by Division on Civil Rights
Investigators Michael Ayles (Angermeier) and
Charles Washington (Murphy-Gabat), Housing
Investigations Unit Manager Elizabeth Russian,
Deputy Attorney General Anne Marie Kelly and
Deputy Attorney General Beverly Lapsley. Lapsley
negotiated the two settlement agreements on
behalf of the state.
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