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A HIGH school student died after eating a dessert that staff wrongly said was nut-free, a new lawsuit has claimed.
Kayleen Brown, 17, suffered a cardiac arrest and fell into a coma after eating the pastry at a school function.
The teenager, who suffered from a nut allergy, had asked staff at her school in Jacksonville, Florida if the baklava being served contained any nuts.
Baklava is a traditional dessert from Turkey and much of the Middle East and Southeast Europe, normally made of filo pastry, syrup, and chopped nuts.
Brown was told by Atlantic Coast High School staff in Duval County that it did not.
However, it turned out the pastry contained pistachio nuts.
Brown quickly began showing signs of her allergy, according to the lawsuit filed by her father.
“She experienced anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest,” the lawsuit reads.
“She fell into a coma and was declared dead on April 30, 2023.”
Steven Brown, the teen’s father, says the school knew about the teen’s nut allergy.
The lawsuit also accuses school officials of not acting quickly enough after Brown started to “exhibit symptoms associated with her food allergy.”
According to the lawsuit, a school nurse reportedly didn’t see her, and officials didn’t contact emergency responders.
Brown went to a local pharmacy to pick up some Benadryl, but her symptoms soon worsened.
Her father is suing Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) for $50,000 for negligence.
The lawsuit claims the teenager died as a “direct and proximate result” of the DCPS’ negligence.
It also demands a jury trial against the DCPS.
“Defendant DCPS owed a duty of care to its students, including Kayleen Brown, to ensure that food that was designated as allergen-free and/or had been requested to be prepared allergen-free was in fact free from allergens that would cause death or serious harm to students,” the complaint goes on to say.
Brown’s obituary says that she was planning on starting her first job after graduating before attending Florida State College at Jacksonville and then the University of Central Florida.
She was looking forward to spending the summer with her friends.
SCHOOL DISTRICT’S FULL STATEMENT
FOLLOWING the announcement of the lawsuit, the Duval County School Board released 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.”
Steven Brown says that he hopes the loss of his daughter will help save others from a similar fate.
“My immediate thing was, ‘Why did she leave school?'” he said in an interview with News4JAX.
“‘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, ‘Why wasn’t 911 called?'”
