LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former Metro Police Detective says he was terminated because of a medical condition, and now he's fighting for his reputation and career.

Attorney Thomas Clay filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Christopher Palombi, a former LMPD detective who was terminated in March 2022 after allegedly threatening a member of the command staff.

Palombi says he suffers from "post-traumatic stress, anxiety and major depressive disorder."

Palombi told WDRB he reached out to his supervisors for help. 

"And when I asked for help, it wasn't well received," he said. 

The lawsuit claims Palombi was traumatized by his time as a combat medic in a U.S. Army infantry platoon in Afghanistan. When Palombi left the military, he enrolled in and graduated from the LMPD training academy.

Palombi says his service to his community and country started when he was just 16-years-old as a volunteer EMT. He then became a fireman, joined the Army and became a medic before becoming a police officer. "And it's just been one consistent form of trauma to the next."

All of that trauma eventually led to medically documented Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and he says that was exacerbated by the recent protests on the streets of Metro Louisville.

The lawsuit claims Palombi's mental health deteriorated after being assigned to security duty during the 2020 social justice demonstrations in Louisville connected to the death of Breonna Taylor. The lawsuit claims the demonstrations had the "potential to lead to violence against law enforcement," and Palombi claims he was subjected to gunfire on four separate occasions.

"That is the closest to combat that I've experienced since I've been home," Palombi said. "We worked nonstop. It wasn't just me -- the whole department, every single officer in the rank and file -- was working nonstop, day in and day out. When you go through those things, and you take time to slow down and realize what's happening to you, it comes back. It comes back. It's not, you know, like a switch you can flip on or off."

That's when he started asking for help to deal with his PTSD.

After meeting with supervisors on Jan. 5, 2022, Palombi was transferred to patrol for "mental health reasons," which he considered a "demotion." On Jan. 13, Palombi claims his mental condition further deteriorated and he told his commander he was "not doing well mentally."

That's when Palombi allegedly made threats to other members of the homicide unit and a member of the command staff.

The lawsuit claims Palombi had a text exchange with a commander the next day and was told by the commander to complete in-patient treatment and he could be put on temporary duty in another LMPD unit.

Palombi flew to California for a 30-day treatment program, which LMPD helped pay for.

"I started taking the correct medications, I started talking to the right people," Palombi said. "You know, the environment they had up there was fantastic. They tried to get you back to the state you were in before you broke for lack of a better word."

But the lawsuit claims when he returned from California, he was met by law enforcement and served pre-termination paperwork. He was fired on March 2. "I was pretty surprised, if I'm being entirely honest," he said. "And I get off the plane and came around the corner and I'm met with a wall of uniformed and plainclothes officers."

Palombi feels that his termination is sending the wrong message to other officers who may be suffering from PTSD. 

"If somewhere down the line a patrolman or a sergeant or detective loses their struggle with post traumatic stress, after seeing that it's not safe to come forward, you know, that's on the LMPD," he said. 

Palombi is still active duty military and says the Army received the same information about his mental health. "They went back and reversed any disciplinary action they were considering for me missing drills and getting out of annual training," said Palombi. "They explored a medical retirement, they reiterated that they will help with any kind of treatment, any kind of accommodations for drill, things of that nature. The exact opposite [of what LMPD did]."

Palombi also says, despite his termination, the Metro Police Department knows there's a lot of misinformation. "They quietly released a statement saying there's no kill list," explained Palombi. "There's no hit list. The information is inaccurate."

Palombi admits he was angry about the lack of help he was receiving. "But being angry with somebody is not a threat," said Palombi.

"I felt betrayed. But I will be honest, you know, it is the LMPD that we are talking about here."

Palombi says LMPD has made no effort to correct misinformation about him. 

"One of the problems with the news articles that came out with the false information, the fact that no attempt was made to redact any of that is that it's hard to find a job.

"They have the facts in this and they could very easily put those forward but they just choose not to because it doesn't paint them in the best light."

Palombi says he deserves better for doing the best he could while serving and protecting the public. 

"I'll be honest: I wasn't good at very many things in life. I was a good fireman. I was a good medic. I was a good cop."

Palombi says he's still in treatment for his PTSD and hopes the lawsuit will help salvage his name, reputation and career.

The former detective also said he took a lot of pride in solving cases and providing closure to the families of homicide victims.

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