An ultra-Orthodox woman from New York has filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s licensing office, saying employees at a Brooklyn Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office forced her to remove a religious head covering for a driver’s license photo.
Sara Fellig said in court filings that the November incident at a DMV office in central Brooklyn violated her religious beliefs and left her traumatized and fearful of an antisemitic ambush.
According to the complaint, Fellig arrived at the office with one of her young daughters. Two of her three daughters, all younger than 4, were sick at the time, and she brought one child with her to the previously scheduled appointment. Fellig wore a partial wig and head covering, in keeping with her religious practice in public.
When it was her turn to be photographed, a DMV employee told her she had to remove the head covering. New York rules bar items that obscure a person’s face or interfere with identification in official photos, but allow exemptions for religious reasons.
Fellig said her face was not obscured and objected to the demand. The employee asked whether she wore the covering for religious reasons. Fellig’s mother explained that under Orthodox Jewish law, a married woman’s hair is considered private and may be seen only by her husband, according to the filing.
The employee responded, “Well, you still can’t wear your hat,” and other staff members backed the demand, the complaint says.
Fellig did not want to reschedule the appointment. The complaint says she felt pressured by the situation and by the presence of nearly 100 people in the office. It says she considered calling her rabbi but hesitated because of past antisemitic incidents.
The lawsuit cites previous episodes, including a 2020 incident in which a passerby insulted Fellig on the street and a 2023 incident involving antisemitic slurs.
Given the public setting and what the filing describes as “shifting sentiments against the Jewish community due to the war in Gaza,” Fellig decided not to contact her rabbi, the lawsuit says. She ultimately removed the head covering, took the photo and later felt guilt and distress.
In the filing, Fellig compared the experience to forcing a religious woman to undress in public, calling it humiliating and degrading.
She is seeking unspecified monetary damages, cancellation of the current license photo and a new photo taken at no cost. The complaint also argues that each time the photo is viewed, it renews the emotional harm, and that her distress will continue until the image is replaced.
Her attorney, Emma Freeman, said the DMV has appropriate rules but argued they were not properly applied in Fellig’s case.
The DMV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.