The authority declined to comment on the lawsuit yesterday. The suit seeks unspecified damages, a court order requiring the authority to give the family a reserved parking space and a ruling throwing out the need for a neighbor's consent.
David Ferleger, the Soks' attorney, said the authority acted "irrationally, discriminatorily and without cause" in barring Sok from its reserved-space program.
Salina Sok has permanent brain damage, is unable to crawl or walk, and communicates by crying, the lawsuit said.
She receives skilled nursing 19 1/2 hours per day, seven days a week. Sok's mother, Nil, is a single parent with a full-time job.
The lawsuit said a reserved parking space was essential for Sok to get on and off her school bus (she attends school five days a week) and for safe transport to medical appointments.
When a car is parked in front of her home, which is ramped for wheelchair access, the school bus cannot pick her up or drop her off because there is no room for its wheelchair ramp, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said Sok's wheelchair cannot go through snow, and thus she misses school if a car is parked in front of the house when it snows.
Ferleger said that Nil Sok had tried to get her neighbors' consent but couldn't reach one of them. Others said they would think about it and get back to Sok, but never did, Ferleger said.
"Our neighbors on our block are terrific. This is not about them," said Nil Sok, who immigrated here from Cambodia in the 1980s and is a legal resident.
"Salina can't live at home safely without a reserved space," Ferleger said.
One of Sok's next-door neighbors, Valerie Frazier, said she didn't know enough about the case to comment. An attempt to reach the other neighbor was unsuccessful.
