Mass shooting survivor reaches cash settlement with former government employer

CHICAGO — The Park District of Highland Park reached a $80,000 settlement with a former employee who says he experienced post-traumatic stress disorder following a mass shooting he witnessed on the job, according to documents Raw Story exclusively received.

Chris Maliszewski, a former recreation director for the Park District, was terminated from his job in December when he says he was unable to return to work after experiencing a panic attack on the job following an active shooter incident, news Raw Story broke earlier this year.

The panic attack came 10 months after Maliszewski worked the Chicago suburb’s Fourth of July parade in 2022 that turned deadly when a shooter killed seven people and injured at least 48.

Maliszewski will receive just shy of $50,000, with the remainder of the payment going to attorneys’ fees, according to the settlement agreement Raw Story obtained through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Maliszewski and the Park District also are in the midst of two workers compensation claims and agreed to a sum of $40,000 to settle the claims, including medical bills, according to the agreement.

RELATED: Highland Park fires rec director who’s suffering from mass shooting-induced PTSD

“I’ve not ever wanted money, really. I never wanted any sort of compensation for my experience or anything along those lines,” Maliszewski told Raw Story in a phone interview. “As it relates to settlement, I’m happy only because there’s closure to it and my circumstance. That's the personal value to it.”

The agreement stipulates that the Park District denies any wrongdoing, noting that it granted Maliszewski 12 weeks of federal Family and Medical Leave Act leave and additional non-FMLA leave. The agreement said Maliszewski denies the accuracy of the Park District’s allegations, but the agreement includes a provision for Maliszewski not to sue the Park District.

The agreement forbids Maliszewski from applying to future employment at the Park District and bars him from engaging with employees about Park District business other than related to the legal agreement.

RELATED: 'Chaos': Fired Highland Park rec director details trauma of July 4 mass shooting

“The Park District has no further comment,” Liz Gogola, a spokesperson for the Park District, told Raw Story.

In a Dec. 27 termination letter shared with Raw Story, Park District Director of Human Resources and Workforce Development Laurel Hall told Maliszewski: “The Park District is not able to grant you an indefinite leave of absence and, therefore, is ending your employment. The Park District is proceeding with posting the vacancy for the new Assistant Director position to prevent undue burden on the Park District operations and staff.”

Maliszewski, now an auctioneer for charities, said he wants to continue to share his story and advocate for mental health because he is “confident this is not the last time something like this will happen to someone else.” He hosts a podcast with another mass shooting survivor called the “Walking Tall.”

“I’m excited for closure for me, and I can move on with my life,” Maliszewski said. “I hope this is an opportunity to be an example for anybody, frankly, of what not to do, how to treat people, what we as a society are allowing to occur at our own demise with mass violence, mental health and treatment.”

Maliszewski’s attorneys, Adam Berger and Scott Moran, did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.