U.S. Attorney’s Office Seeks To Intervene in Lawsuit Against Itasca, Ill. for Refusing To Allow Treatment Center To Open in Village

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago has sought to file a complaint in intervention in a pending lawsuit against Itasca, Ill., alleging the village engaged in unlawful disability discrimination in reviewing and ultimately denying a zoning request filed by a non-profit health care provider to use its property as a treatment center for people with substance-use disorders.

Haymarket DuPage LLC contracted in 2019 to purchase a hotel in Itasca with plans to repurpose it into a specialized treatment center offering health care services to treat substance-use disorders and related mental health disabilities.  Haymarket’s main treatment center is in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood and offers a range of services, including detoxification support, inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, primary medical and pediatric care, and a program allowing mothers in treatment to remain with their children.  Haymarket has sought for years to expand into DuPage County due to the urgent need for treatment centers in Chicago’s western suburbs.

The complaint in intervention that the U.S. Attorney’s Office seeks to file contends that the village engaged in disparate treatment by employing a host of highly anomalous tactics to frustrate Haymarket’s application for zoning approval.  The complaint alleges that village officials concocted a pretextual narrative that the treatment center would impose severe economic harms on the region, while also fanning the flames of residents’ fears by issuing numerous public statements disparaging Haymarket and its supporters.  The complaint contends that the village also failed to fulfill its accommodation obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act prior to denying Haymarket’s zoning request.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Chicago.  It was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan A. Rosen, Sarah F. Terman, and Patrick W. Johnson.