A father is suing a Florida school district after his teenage daughter with a severe nut allergy fell into a coma and died after eating baklava at her high school.
Kayleen Brown, 17, of Jacksonville, tragically died on April 30, 2023 after she was served the popular dessert at Atlantic Coast High School on April 27.
Because she was unfamiliar with the dish, Kayleen asked school staff if the baklava was nut free, and was told that it was, according to the lawsuit filed by her father, Steven Brown.
After hearing that it did not contain nuts, Kayleen ate the dessert and soon ‘discovered that the food she had consumed contained pistachio nuts,’ the legal filing said.
The teen soon started to experience allergy symptoms and notified a school employee that she was having a reaction because of the nuts.
According to the suit, employees of the Duval County Public School district ‘were aware that she had eaten nuts and was experiencing symptoms associated with her food allergy and permitted her to leave campus,’ but did not send her to the school nurse for evaluation.
After Kayleen left the school, she rushed over to a local pharmacy and bought Benadryl to help soothe her symptoms, but upon her arrival she experienced anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest just three days before she fell into a coma and died.
Now, her father is blaming the school district, who he says was well aware of his child’s fatal allergy as he and his child developed a Food Allergy Management and Prevention Plan for her.
Kayleen Brown, 17, of Jacksonville, tragically died on April 30, 2023 after she was served baklava with peanuts in it at Atlantic Coast High School on April 27
Because she was unfamiliar with the dish, Kayleen asked school staff if the baklava was nut free, and was told that it was, according to the lawsuit filed by her father, Steven Brown
Under the plan, school staff is required to recognize and report signs of an allergic reaction and not allow students, like Kayleen, to ‘walk alone to the school nurse or permitted to ride the school bus,’ the lawsuit stated.
The plan, which provided ‘guidelines to ensure a safe and healthy educational environment for students with life threatening food allergies,’ was not followed by the school, as employees ‘breached its duty’ to Kayleen, according to the filing.
Steven further claimed that the school district failed to train its employees on food allergen procedures, and did not follow the food allergy plan in place for his late daughter.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit, filed in July, he is suing the Duval County Public School District for unspecified damages that exceed $50,000, due to the ‘direct and proximate result’ of DCPS’ negligence.
That money is set to go toward costs the student’s family has endured following her death, including funeral expenses, medical bills, lost income and suffering of her mother and father.
Her father is blaming the school district, who he says was well aware of his child’s fatal allergy as he and his child developed a Food Allergy Management and Prevention Plan for her
The distraught father told News4JAX: ‘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 added.
The family’s attorney, Ted Pina, described the unimaginable loss Kayleen’s loved ones have been through since her death.
‘It’s hard to imagine sometimes that someone can die from something like this but they can and they do,’ he told the outlet.
The lawsuit also demands a jury trial against the school district. DailyMail.com contacted DCPS for comment.
After graduation, Kayleen planned on starting her very first job and attending Florida State College at Jacksonville before moving on to the University of Central Florida, according to her obituary.
After graduation, Kayleen planned on starting her very first job and attending Florida State College at Jacksonville before moving on to the University of Central Florida
‘Kayleen loved the beach, the water, and waking up early to watch the sunrise. She was an AP Art student who loved painting and drawing,’ it added.
A GoFundMe page was created to help her family pay for her medical expenses.
Her grandmother, Anne Brown, who created the donation page, revealed that she had just attended prom right before her sudden death.
‘Kayleen had the ambition of becoming an anesthesiologist had the grades to accomplish this and anything she could put her mind to,’ Anne wrote.
The grandmother also revealed that her parents decided to donate her organ, adding ‘We can take some solace that she will live on.’
‘No one is ever prepared for a precious life to end so abruptly or at such a young age.’
As of Thursday morning, more than $27,900 was raised to help the family.
