Peter Geraci's Wife Loses Lawsuit To Keep Dogs Off Her Condo's Elevator

CHICAGO, IL — The wife of Peter Francis Geraci, the Chicago bankruptcy lawyer known for his TV commercials, won't be taking dog-free elevator rides to the couple's penthouse after a federal jury rejected last week her claim that her condo association needed to provide her with a lift that prohibited canines. The verdict in Holly Geraci's housing discrimination lawsuit against the Union Square Condominium Associationcame Thursday in U.S. District Court, according to the Chicago Tribune. Holly Geraci had filed the suit in March 2015 after the association for the River North development on Hubbard Street that she and her husband have lived in since 2000 wouldn't make allowances for her fear of large dogs.

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According to Geraci's lawsuit, the condo group's refusal violated the Fair Housing Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act because the association wouldn't accommodate for Geraci's post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition she's suffered from after a German shepherd attack as a child left her afraid of large dogs. But Graham Miller, a lawyer for the association, told the Tribune that the jury didn't believe that Geraci's disability fell under those defined by the housing act.

Neither Geraci nor her attorney commented about the verdict, but Miller said he could forsee an appeal in the future.

RELATED: Lawyer Peter Geraci's Wife Can Sue Condo Association Over Riding Elevator With Dogs

"I don't know what they'll do with this case," Miller told the Tribune. "They certainly take litigation to its extreme."

Union Square did not allow dogs when the Geracis moved in to their penthouse, but the development made an exception for the couple's an older, 10-pound older cairn terrier. The condo building eventually lifted the rule entirely in 2004. However, Geraci began to complain to the association about sharing a confined space with the dogs after a few elevator run-ins with the pets and their owners.

RELATED: Wife of Peter Francis Geraci to Pay Six Figures After Assault Lawsuit

In 2013, Geraci and a dog walker got into an elevator donnybrook. That confrontation led to a civil lawsuit that Geraci lost. A jury ordered her to pay the dog walker $275,000, but Geraci is appealing the decision.

Although dogs now will be allowed on Union Square elevators, Holly Geraci won't need to share rides with those four-leggers for much longer. She and her husband had been planning to move out of the building before the verdict. The couple purchased an $8.63-million penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Residences and plan to move in to that residence, which has its own dog-free express elevator, in about two years.

More via the Chicago Tribune

Chicago lawyer Peter Francis Geraci from his TV commercial. (image via Patch Archive)

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