JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The father of a high school student who died in 2023 after suffering a nut-related allergic reaction at a school function filed a lawsuit against Duval County Public Schools claiming it failed to follow the necessary protocols to ensure her safety.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed in July 2024, claims Kayleen Brown, a 17-year-old Atlantic Coast High School senior, died after DCPS employees and/or agents “negligently” failed to warn the food provided at a school meeting contained allergens, failed to educate staff on food allergen procedures, and failed to follow its own food allergy management and prevention plan.
On April 27, 2023, Brown attended a school activity meeting on campus that included food, and one of the food items provided was baklava. According to the lawsuit, Brown suffered from a severe allergy to food products that contained allergens, including nuts. According to the lawsuit, the allergy was known to DCPS employees.
The lawsuit states that Brown had never had baklava before and asked if it contained nuts, but DCPS employees/agents told her it did not, so she decided to eat some.
After eating the baklava, Brown found out it contained pistachios.
According to the lawsuit, Brown then began to experience symptoms related to her food allergy and told a DCPS employee that she had eaten nuts and was starting to feel symptoms. She then left the school to go to a local pharmacy to get Benadryl to treat those symptoms.
Despite DCPS employees being aware of Brown’s symptoms associated with her food allergy, Brown “was not taken to the school nurse. Emergency response was not notified. An emergency action plan was not initiated,” the lawsuit states.
When Brown arrived at the pharmacy her symptoms worsened, and she experienced anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit.
Brown fell into a coma and died on April 30, 2023, according to the lawsuit.
“It’s hard to imagine sometimes that someone can die from something like this but they can and they do,” Attorney Ted Pina said.
The lawsuit states that DCPS had a Food Allergy Management and Prevention Plan in place to ensure a safe and healthy educational environment for students with life-threatening food allergies. The guidelines in that plan required that DCPS employees 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 plan also included an emergency action plan in the event of a student reporting signs of an allergic reaction. Furthermore, students experiencing an allergic reaction should not be allowed to walk alone to the school nurse or to ride the school bus.
The lawsuit states that DCPS had an obligation to care for its students, including Brown, to ensure that food that was designated as allergen-free and/or had been requested to be prepared allergen-free was indeed free from allergens that would cause death or serious harm to students, such as in Brown’s case.
Steven Brown, Kayleen Brown’s father, spoke to News4JAX over the phone. He said he hopes the loss of his daughter will save others from a tragedy like this.
“My immediate thing was, you know. ‘Why did she leave school? Or why was she allowed to leave school if the teacher was aware that she was having an allergic reaction?’ My first thing would be like, ‘Why wasn’t 911 called?’” he said.
The lawsuit, which seeks at least $50,000 in damages, claims Brown died as a “direct and proximate result” of DCPS’ negligence. The lawsuit also demands a jury trial against DCPS.
According to her obituary, Brown loved the beach, painting and drawing. She was planning on starting her first job and attending FSCJ, followed by UCF.
Brown hopes he can keep his daughter’s memory alive— but the pain of losing her remains.
“I try to, keep it together as best I can to kind of give Kayleen’s story to help,” Steven Brown said.
News4JAX reached out to DCPS regarding this lawsuit and provided the following statement:
“We 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.”
Duval County Public Schools spokesperson
To learn more about how to protect your child from food allergies, visit this website.