MILWAUKEE — The family of a Wisconsin woman is suing the state's Division of Motor Vehicles alleging she broke her wrist after an agency employee told her she had to walk without her cane to renew her license.
The federal lawsuit from 78-year-old Mary Wobschall's estate alleges that making applicants walk without a cane or crutches as a condition of getting a driver's license violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Journal Sentinel reported this week the employee from a West Bend DMV denied her renewal and told her she needed a medical examination because of her fall before she could renew her license.
The lawsuit accuses the DMV employee, who is not named in the civil complaint, of acting with malice and deliberate indifference to Wobschall's rights.
The lawsuit says Wobschall went to an optometrist before going to the DMV on June 2018 to make sure her vision was fine and she was told she needed no corrective lenses for driving.
Wobschall had surgery on her wrist and died four months later from other causes.
A Wisconsin Department of Transportation spokesperson says the agency can't comment on the lawsuit because it's pending.
