6-Feb-17 – A unit owner does not want to share the elevator with dogs at her River North condominium, and a federal judge in Chicago says the two-year-old lawsuit against her condo association may proceed.

Holly Geraci, wife of prominent bankruptcy lawyer Peter Geraci, is suing Union Square Condominium Association for not allowing her to ride the elevator alone and non-stop. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a dog attack when she was a child, Holly says the association is violating the federal Fair Housing Act by not accommodating her.

United States District Judge Matthew Kennelly says Geraci has presented a strong enough case so far to be allowed to proceed, rejecting a request by the condo association for summary judgement.

Geraci says Union Square not only refused her requests but retaliated by turning residents against her. Forums were held to discuss her lawsuit, claims Holly, at which she was blamed for harming the condo association. Unit owners even applauded in approval of claims made against her, she says.

Kennelly says the evidence so far has convinced him a jury could find that Holly Geraci has a legally-recognized disability and the condo association has fallen short of accommodating her.

“A reasonable jury,” wrote Kennelly (right) in his decision on January 26, “could infer from this evidence that USCA acted as it did to turn Geraci’s fellow residents against her and that it succeeded.”