MIAMI LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida lawyer is taking action against the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles after, he said, Floridians spent hours waiting at the DMV which opened them up to unsafe conditions.
Attorney Michael Pizzi held a news conference Wednesday morning in Miami Lakes where he announced a $10 million class action lawsuit against the Florida DMV and the Miami-Dade and Broward County Tax Collector’s Office.
“We’re here to say ‘enough is enough.’ We’re suing the State of Florida DMV and the Tax Collectors of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties,” he said.
Pizzi said the long wait times at the DMV have caused headaches for many residents, leaving them to stand in line for hours as some even camped outside overnight to get one of the first appointments.
He said residents have been left to deal with unsafe conditions and inadequate scheduling procedures.
“It is nothing short of horrific and disgraceful,” said Pizzi.
The case was filed on behalf of a 17-year-old girl, whose mother said, was forced to sleep outside a Pompano Beach DMV in January to get her driver’s license.
The teen’s mother, Jennifer Sassone, detailed how her daughter and a friend camped outside the DMV for 11 hours.
“We thought we would arrive there early, two hours before, and we get there and they laughed. They simply laughed and said ‘Oh no, you need to come back at midnight the night before,” she said.
Sassone said the teen was exposed to distress and even harassment. She showed video of the alleyway where her daughter and the friend slept.
“What happened to my daughter is inhumane,” she said.
Pizzi said appointment scalpers, or people who hold spots in exchange for cash, are largely to blame, but Miami-Dade Tax Collector already cracked down on the scalpers by making it illegal earlier this year.
“They’re being held to account to every single person they have forced to wait on 10, 12, hour long lines in unsafe conditions, in degrading and deplorable conditions, just because of their incompetence, and they are condoning and permitting corruption,” he said.
According to Pizzi, once the class action lawsuit is certified by the courts, eventually other people who believe they fell victim to questionable conditions will be able to get on board.
“Our hope is when people find out about this, they are going to come forward with their videos and stories,” he said.
7News has reached out to the offices of the Miami-Dade and Broward Tax Collectors but have not heard back.
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