Haymarket lawsuit against Itasca faces intervention by U.S. Attorney’s Office

CHICAGO - The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking to intervene in a pending lawsuit against the city of Itasca after the village rejected plans for a specialized addiction treatment facility. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago claimed the northwest suburban village unlawfully discriminated against the disabled when it denied a zoning request by nonprofit health care provider, Haymarket, according to documents filed Thursday in federal court.

Haymarket DuPage contracted to buy a hotel in Itasca in 2019 and planned to repurpose the building as a treatment center that would offer services to treat people with substance-use disorders and related mental health disabilities.

Prosecutors argued that the village pushed a narrative that the treatment center would bring economic harm to the community and spoke disparagingly against Haymarket DuPage to its residents.

"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," prosecutors said in a statement.

Haymarket operates its main treatment center in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood and looked to expand its services to patients in the western suburbs, which include detoxification support, inpatient and outpatient treatment programs and primary medical care.