Teen Dies After School Allegedly Allows Her to Go to the Drugstore During Severe Nut Allergy Attack: Lawsuit

Mar. 15, 2025

A photo of Atlantic Coast High School in Jacksonville, Florida.Photo:Google Maps

Google Maps

A father is speaking out after filing a wrongful death lawsuit last year against his daughter’s school board, claiming she died as the result of being given a dessert containing nuts — despite having a severe allergy.

Kayleen Brown, who was a 17-year-old student at Atlantic Coast High School in Jacksonville, Fla., died on April 30, 2023, three days after she ate the pastry baklava on April 27, 2023, while attending an activity meeting on campus, according to dad Steven Brown’slawsuit.

A stock photo of baklava.Getty

Getty

The teenager “then left the school to go to a local pharmacy to obtain Benadryl to treat her symptoms,” according to the suit, which states that “employees and/or agents of DCPS were aware that she had eaten nuts and was experiencing symptoms associated with her food allergy and permitted her to leave campus.”

“She was not taken to the school nurse. Emergency response was not notified. An emergency action plan was not initiated,” the suit claims.

The suit alleges that when Kayleen “arrived at the pharmacy her symptoms worsened” and she “experienced anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest” before falling “into a coma and was declared dead on April 30, 2023.”

In a statement, a Duval County Public Schools spokesperson said they “are very sorry to hear about the tragic passing of this young person, and our sympathies go out to the family.”

“Because this matter appears to involve pending litigation, any district response will come within the context of the judicial proceedings,” the spokesperson said.

Bown’s lawsuit states that DCPS had “developed a Food Allergy Management and Prevention Plan, the purpose of which was to provide guidelines to ensure a safe and healthy educational environment for students with life-threatening food allergies.”

“These guidelines required that DCPS employees and/agents be trained to recognize symptoms of an allergic reaction, how to administer epinephrine, and how to notify emergency response when a student is exposed to allergens,” the complaint continues. “The guidelines further provided that an emergency action plan should be initiated if a student reports signs of an allergic reaction and that such students should not be permitted to walk alone to the school nurse or permitted to ride the school bus.”

A stock photo of pistachio nuts.Getty

Steven claims in the documents that the school board had “negligently” failed to “initiate an emergency action plan” after his daughter started experiencing symptoms, as well as “failing to notify emergency response,” and allowing her “to leave campus without receiving emergency medical treatment,” as well as not doing what the Food Allergy Management and Prevention Plan stated.

The Brown family is suing “for damages in excess of $50,000, exclusive of interest, costs and attorney’s fees,” per the suit. They’re also demanding a jury trial.

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The suit also states letters had previously been sent from legal firm Nichols and Pina to the Duval County School board dated May 23 and June 29, 2023, confirming the family’s intention to file a wrongful death suit.

“The family hopes that this case will draw attention to the risks food allergies can pose in our schools and the need for proper training in, and implementation of, relevant policies and procedures to reduce those risks,” Pina adds.

source: people.com