An Orthodox Jewish mother from Brooklyn has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Department of Motor Vehicles employees of forcing her to remove her religious head covering for a license photo, an experience she says left her deeply shaken and humiliated, Matzav.com has learned.

Sara Fellig claims she felt compelled to comply with what she described as a violation of her religious practice, and says the incident has continued to affect her emotionally. In her complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, she details the distress she experienced during and after the encounter.

“Forcing Ms. Fellig — or any married, ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who wears a head covering — to remove [their] head covering in public is akin to forcing a secular person to strip naked in front of strangers, carrying all the same shame, humiliation, and abasement,” she said in the court papers filed against the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

According to the filing, Fellig arrived at the Atlantic Avenue DMV office in downtown Brooklyn for a scheduled appointment in November while caring for her young children. Two of her three daughters were unwell at the time, and she brought one of them with her to the office.

As is her regular practice in public, Fellig was wearing a partial shaitel along with a small hat.

When she was called for her photograph, a DMV employee instructed her to remove her head covering. Although state regulations prohibit images that obscure facial features or interfere with identification, Fellig maintains that her hat and wig did not cover her face.

She objected to the request, leading the employee to ask whether the head covering was worn for religious reasons. After she confirmed that it was, the worker allegedly responded, “Well you still can’t wear your hat,” according to the lawsuit.

A second DMV employee did not step in to address the situation, despite provisions in state law allowing exemptions for individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs.

“Ms. Fellig was so disturbed by the prospect of removing her head covering in public that she contemplated calling her rabbi to discuss the unlawful circumstances she was facing,” she said in the legal claim.

The lawsuit notes that Fellig hesitated to seek help at the time due to prior incidents of harassment. In 2020, she was verbally attacked on Empire Boulevard, and in 2023 she encountered another antisemitic outburst in the same area.

With nearly 100 people present at the DMV office, and “mindful of shifting sentiments against the Jewish community due to the war in Gaza . . . Ms. Fellig decided not to call her rabbi, worried that onlookers would believe her to be an angry Jewish person seeking to make trouble.”

She ultimately removed her head covering and posed for the photo, an action she says left her emotionally overwhelmed and filled with regret. In her lawsuit, she is seeking damages, the destruction of the existing license image, and a replacement license at no cost.

“Each time someone views the photograph, Ms. Fellig experiences a renewed desecration of her religious beliefs,” according to the lawsuit.

“Ms. Fellig’s emotional damages will continue and multiply until a new photograph is taken and a new license issued,” she said in the court papers, adding, “she fears condemnation from her Chabad community — and her rabbi — if they discover that her official New York State ID depicts her without appropriate headgear.”

Her attorney, Emma Freeman, argued that the issue stems from a failure to apply existing policy.

“The DMV has the right rule in place — but, for no reason at all, it wasn’t followed in Ms. Fellig’s case,” she said.

{Matzav.com}