A320 CREW HAD THE CLRNC 'DEV R OF L' OF COURSE FOR WX AVOIDANCE. THIS CLRNC WAS NEVER RESCINDED. ZAU CTLR FILED A CLRNC VIOLATION ON THE CREW FOR DOING SO.

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I DO NOT RECALL BEING INVOLVED IN AN ALT OR NAV DEV BUT WAS ADVISED TO FILE A RPT FOR A POSSIBLE DEV THAT OCCURRED MAY/WED/02; ORD-TPA. I DO RECALL RECEIVING A 'TA' FROM OUR TCASII SYS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE VICINITY OF ROBERTS. I WILL DESCRIBE THIS EVENT TO THE BEST OF MY RECOLLECTION. WE WERE CLBING OUT S OF CHICAGO AND DEVS WERE NECESSARY TO AVOID TSTM ACTIVITY. FO WAS THE PF AND I WAS HANDLING THE RADIOS. WE WERE GIVEN CLRNC TO DEVIATE R OR L OF COURSE. WE INITIALLY DEVIATED R THEN MADE A DEV TO THE L TO GET ON THE E SIDE OF THE LINE OF BUILD-UPS. AFTER GETTING E OF WHAT WAS PAINTED ON OUR RADAR; WE WERE APCHING AN OMINOUS LOOKING CLOUD THAT APPEARED TO ME LIKE IT WOULD BE VERY TURBULENT; EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T PAINTING. I TOLD THE FO 'THAT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD; LET'S GO AROUND IT' OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT. HE AGREED AND MADE A L TURN TO AVOID IT. I ADVISED ATC THAT WE WERE TURNING FURTHER TO 'SUCH AND SUCH' A HDG. AFTER ESTABLISHED ON THAT HDG; WE RECEIVED A TCASII TA BUT NO RA. THE TA SURPRISED BOTH OF US. WE MONITORED THE TFC AND FELT WE HAD SAFE SEPARATION. WE WERE IN THE CLB THIS ENTIRE TIME. WHAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS DECREASE IN TFC SEPARATION WOULD BE IF ATC WOULD HAVE GIVEN US DEV LIMITS AND A REASON FOR THEM. THERE WERE OTHER OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO US.