PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) — A Prospect Heights resident has been awarded $2.5 million by a federal jury in a pesticide exposure case, years after clashing with her condominium association over a request to take carpeting out of her unit.
Chris Kraszynski, a transgender woman, sued the Rob Roy Country Club Village Condo Association in federal court, claiming it failed to provide reasonable accommodations for her disability and medical needs in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
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According to Kraszynski, the association continued applying landscaping pesticides and chemicals near her home even after she raised concerns that the substances were affecting her health.
ABC7’s Jason Knowles asked her, “You won two and a half million dollars? Your reaction?”
“Well, I’m very happy because it’s been a long, hard, long fought battle,” Kraszynski said.
Her lawyer, Matthew Amarin with the Law Offices of Haytham Faraj in Chicago, said the jury’s decision validates the complaints Kraszynski had brought to the association over many years.
“I think it means confirmation. It’s been years and years. She’s been telling this HOA, ‘You’re making me sicker. You’re making me sicker.’ And she’s been ignored. And when a third party or 12 jurors listened to the evidence, they sided with Chris,” Amarin said.
Benjamin Shain, vice chair of psychiatry at Endeavor Health, noted that certain individuals can have heightened sensitivity to pesticides and other environmental toxins.
“There are some people who are exquisitely sensitive to pesticides and other environmental toxins,” Shain said.
He added that repeated spraying could result in “major flare ups not being able to breather or not being able to walk” and could contribute to “depression and anxiety.”
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Kraszynski’s dispute with the condominium association began in 2009 when she asked to remove carpeting from her unit. She believed the carpet was trapping pesticides and contributing to health problems, and she submitted letters from her doctors in support of her request.
“Chris has an extensive history, medical history and her doctors advised remove the carpet from her unit because environmental toxins can get trapped in the carpet and she continuously is re-exposed to those toxins,” Amarin said.
Kraszynski said she never removed the carpet after her request was denied. Despite that, the condominium association sued her in 2010, alleging she violated bylaws requiring units to have wall-to-wall carpeting.
Kraszynski ultimately accrued nearly $600,000 in fines, fees and interest after a judge entered a default judgment when she missed a court appearance. Kraszynski said she was ill on the day of the hearing. The association also filed foreclosure documents.
“It’s unbelievable that that they’re even alleging this because it just it’s a groundless false claim. That’s what it is. It was completely false from the very beginning,” Kraszynski said.
Kraszynski said she hopes the $2.5 million verdict in the separate pesticide case will provide leverage as she continues to deal with the financial consequences of the condominium association lawsuit. The verdict addresses health damages she suffered during the spraying but does not require the association to stop spraying pesticides in the future.
It’s unclear when she will get the verdict money but Kraszynski said she plans to use some of the award to help others facing similar situations.
“I’m going to hopefully use it to probably start some sort of organization of my own, some charitable work where I can use it to help individuals who are in positions like me,” she said.
The condo board did not respond to ABC7’s requests for comment in 2024 and did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment on the latest developments. The board’s attorney declined to comment.
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