TRENTON
– The Division on Civil Rights announced
today that a South Jersey condominium association
has agreed to pay a medically-disabled resident
$10,000 and forgive thousands of dollars
more in maintenance fees owed by the woman
to resolve allegations that it unlawfully
discriminated by failing to accommodate
her disability.
Under terms of the settlement, the Mays
Landing Village Condominium Association,
of Mays Landing, Atlantic County, has agreed
to pay longtime resident Mary Lou Frisch
$7,528, and also will pay her condominium
maintenance fees of $2,472 for the coming
year.
The
Association has also agreed to forgive an
estimated $12,000-$15,000 in outstanding
maintenance fees owed by Frisch, to have
its officers attend training on the Law
Against Discrimination (LAD), and to develop
written policies and procedures for addressing
future requests for disability accommodation.
The Association also will pay the Division
on Civil Rights $5,000 for costs, and has
agreed to have its handling of requests
for accommodation monitored by the Division
for the next two years.
“This
is a fair settlement that resolves troubling
allegations of discrimination by a condominium
association against a disabled resident,”
said Division Director Chinh Q. Le. “This
case should serve as a message to condo
associations and landlords throughout the
state: persons with disabilities have a
right to a reasonable accommodation, and
failure to provide it can result in legal
consequences.”
A
23-year resident of Mays Landing Village,
Frisch suffers from Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease – a debilitating
lung illness -- and has a Permanent Disabled
Parking Permit issued by the New Jersey
Motor Vehicle Commission.
Frisch fell behind in her monthly condominium
maintenance fees beginning in January 2007
and, in November 2008, the Association suspended
her use of common elements at Mays Landing
Village including the residents’ parking
lot and swimming pool.
As
a result Frisch, who had been parking in
the residents’ parking lot –
in a space designated “handicapped”
close to her unit – was forced to
park off the premises, and typically had
to walk the better part of a mile to get
home.
The
walk exacerbated her lung condition, and
Frisch requested in a November 17, 2008
letter that the Association permit her to
continue parking in the residents’
lot -- despite still being in arrears on
her fees -- as a reasonable accommodation
for her disability. The Association rejected
Frisch’s request.
Frisch
subsequently filed a complaint with the
Division on Civil Rights, which was joined
by the State. Citing its own by-laws, the
Association maintained it had a right to
handle Frisch’s situation as it did.
However, a Finding of Probable Cause issued
by the Division in January 2010 held that
the Association failed to demonstrate that
allowing Frisch to use the residents’
parking lot would cause it undue hardship,
or that Frisch’s request for accommodation
was unreasonable. (The Association had already
suspended Frisch’s membership and
voting rights, and suspended her access,
as well as that of her guests, to the pool,
tennis courts and other amenities.)
Director Le thanked Elizabeth Russian, Manager
of the Division’s Housing Investigations
Unit, for overseeing the Mays Landing Village
investigation; Deputy Attorney General Charles
Cohen for assisting with preparation of
the Finding of Probable Cause, and Deputy
Attorney General Beverly Lapsley for negotiating
the settlement on behalf of the State.
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