JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board settled a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money after a student died from an allergic reaction to nuts last year.
Court documents show Steven Brown, father of 17-year-old Atlantic Coast High School senior Kayleen Brown, reached a settlement with the Duval County School Board last week in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in July 2024 that claimed that the district failed to follow the necessary protocols to ensure her safety.
Family Attorney Ted Pina, with Nichols and Pina, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kayleen Brown’s estate against the Duval County School Board.
“This was part of a mediation. The Duval School board was interested in mediating the case and so we got it scheduled as quickly as I could,” said Pina.
READ | Full complaint against Duval County School Board
News4JAX talked to Steven Brown before the case was settled, and he said in a phone call the lawsuit was not about the money, but about preventing this from happening to someone else’s child.
“Nothing is going to bring her back, but if I can help prevent it from happening again is really what I want to get from it,” said Steven Brown, Kayleen Brown’s father during an interview in January.
According to the complaint, multiple mistakes were made leading up to her death.
The complaint states that Kayleen Brown asked if there were any nuts in the baklava because she was allergic, and the staff incorrectly told her it had no nuts.
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 stated.
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.
The complaint states 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.
Details of the settlement were not made public. However, in any case involving Duval County, if it is sued, it can pay out up to $200,000.
“I think he’s glad to have it behind him and glad to be able to move forward. It’s been particularly hard for the family as you can imagine. He felt it was very important to bring the suit it was not so much about the money as making sure it was known what had happened and taking steps to make sure it wouldn’t happen again,” Pina said.
News4JAX reached out to DCPS on Monday for a statement regarding the settlement. We also asked if there will be any additional training or any changes to their procedures to prevent this in the future. Due to spring break, we have not heard back.