CHICAGO, April 13 (UPI) -- The Illinois Department of Human Rights has sued a Chicago condo on behalf of an artist who was denied a service dog to help him cope with depression.
Nio Tavlos told the Chicago Sun-Times having a dog makes him more productive as a person and an artist. He said he first applied to the condo association to be allowed to keep a service dog in 2007.
"I spend a lot of time in bed, I'm lethargic, I'm not creative," he said of his dogless life in Chicago.
Tavlos owns a home in Santa Fe, N.M., but in recent years has spent most of his time in his wife's condo in a high-rise building on Lake Shore Drive. He said other residents have service dogs, including some trained to deal with emotional difficulties, while others simply keep dogs surreptitiously.
The state filed a discrimination lawsuit Tuesday. In addition to seeking permission for Tavlos to keep a service dog, the department asked for damages and for a condo policy on accommodating residents with disabilities.
