Park District Staffer Fired While On Leave With PTSD From Highland Park Parade Shooting

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Park District of Highland Park officials last month terminated one of their recreation directors because of what they described as his request for "indefinite leave" pending treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by the Independence Day parade shooting 18 months earlier.

Chris Maliszewski, 41, of Palatine, was at the parade route during the shooting, the deadliest by a single gunman in state history, and helped evacuate attendees, notify residents and locate survivors, he told Raw Story, which first reported his firing.

Maliszewski returned to work immediately after the shooting, which left seven dead and at least 48 others wounded, and continued working until April 2023, when he told the news website he suffered a panic attack after a student brought a gun to Highland Park High School.

Following 12 weeks of job-protected family medical leave, he returned to work for four weeks in August with a reduced schedule and limited job duties before going back on leave. His leave was extended several more times through December, when park district officials notified him they understood he was "requesting indefinite leave and/or had decided not to return," according to a letter from park district human resources staff first revealed by Raw Story.

Laurel Hall, the park district's director of human resources and workforce development, notified Maliszewski last month that the district would restructure its recreational department to have one director and one assistant director instead of two directors.

Hall said the director would offer Maliszewski, who had worked for the district for nearly a decade, the assistant director position as long as he could return to work soon and meet the essential functions of the position, with reasonable accommodations if necessary.

"Otherwise, the district will start the hiring process for this position in January to prevent undue burden on the Park District operations and staff," Hall told him.

The district's organizational chart in last year's budget shows two positions called "assistant director of rec & facilities," each of whom had four or five managers reporting to them.

This year's chart included in the district's draft budget shows a single director of recreation overseeing athletics, tennis, recreation programs, rentals, aquatics, fitness and customer experience.

Maliszewski had been planning to return in October, but his psychiatrist did not want to clear him without knowing the environment into which he would return, he told Raw Story. He said his workers compensation attorney told him that month not to contact park district officials anymore. His workers compensation claim remains pending.

“I've offered the commissioners, many times over, an opportunity to meet in person, so they can hear what's happening, and they've just ghosted me,” Maliszewski said.

Patch has requested any communication between commissioners and Maliszewski, which park district staff said it would take at least two weeks to find.

Maliszewski told Pioneer Press that he did not contact an attorney until after he filed for worker's compensation in June 2023, and he knew of at least one other park district staffer who also filed for worker's comp following the shooting.

Highland Park's park district is separate and independent from the local municipal government.

According to the annual report of the district, which receives the majority of its funding from property taxes, its recreation funds produced anticipated surpluses greater than $3 million in each of the past two years.

The park district receives about 7 percent of every dollar paid in local property taxes, while the city of Highland Park receives 8 percent.

The city provides 24-hour police, fire and emergency medical, water, sewer, streets, lighting, land use planning and forestry services.

Meanwhile, the park district manages 800 acres of land, offers about 3,500 programs and employs about 118 full-time workers, including two "head" tennis professionals who received salaries greater than $100,000 and two tennis pros who received more than $95,000 in total compensation.

The district's 2023 compensation report shows that both Maliszewski and the other assistant director of facilities and recreation, the since-resigned Amy Murrin, both were budgeted to receive more than $150,000 in annual total compensation. Additionally, a lead recreation director position was on track to get nearly $170,000 in compensation.

Though it is legally required to release compensation data, park district officials choose not to post it online, instead requiring members of the public to visit its administrative offices or specifically request them from human resources staff.

The accused perpetrator of the 2022 mass shooting is due back in court Feb. 21 after dismissing Lake County public defenders and invoking his right to a speedy trial before reversing course and deciding not to represent himself.

His father, Bob Crimo, was released from the Lake County Jail last month after serving 28 days behind bars for admitting he was reckless when he signed off on his then-19-year-old son's application to Illinois State Police for a license to buy a gun.