The lawsuit centers on a student who says he immediately felt burning in his mouth and throat after allegedly ingesting oven cleaner

NEED TO KNOW

• A family has filed a nearly $1 million lawsuit after an Oregon middle school allegedly served more than 50 students pretzels coated with oven cleaner
• The suit seeks up to $950,220.85 for claims including strict liability, negligence, unlawful confinement and violations of civil rights
• The police allegedly initially closed their investigation after speaking with the kitchen lead by phone and being unable to establish probable cause that a crime had been committed

After an Oregon middle school confirmed it served students soft pretzels sprinkled with oven cleaner in an incident that was ruled accidental, the family of one of the students has filed a lawsuit. 

Officials at Fowler Middle School in Tigard said on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that 37 pretzels covered in Alto-Shaam oven cleaner were accidentally served during a lunch period for sixth graders in September, local outlet FOX 12 reported at the time. 

“We understand that today’s food incident created significant alarm within our school community,” Fowler Middle School Principal Cindy Pellicci said in an email to parents, as seen by local outlet KOIN 6. “The safety and health of our students is our top priority, and we want to reassure you that protocols were followed to immediately identify the students who ate the pretzels and check for illness or adverse reactions.”

Parent Kaylee Spiering claimed that the cleaning tablets were accidentally mistaken for salt after they were crushed up and put into a bag. 

“The bag was left on the counter, and someone mistook it for salt to put on the pretzels,” she told FOX 12. 

Since then, a lawsuit has been filed naming the Tigard-Tualatin School District, Principal Pellicci and the lead kitchen worker who allegedly put the oven cleaner on the pretzels, according to court documents obtained by FOX 12. 

The Tigard-Tualatin School District and Fowler Middle School did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, Oct. 25.

In the complaint, which was filed on Sept. 9 in Washington County Circuit Court, the family seeks up to $950,220.85 for claims including strict liability, negligence, unlawful confinement and violations of civil rights, per the outlet. 

The suit centers on a student, identified as L.L., who immediately felt burning in his mouth and throat after being one of more than 50 students to allegedly ingest the oven cleaner, per the complaint. He later experienced chest pain, stomach upset and anxiety about eating at school. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ingestion of sodium hydroxide (which is found inside of certain Alto-Shaam products) can cause “spontaneous vomiting, chest and abdominal pain, and difficulty swallowing with drooling” as well as the possibility of “extremely rapid” corrosive injury to the mouth and other related organs and can result in hemorrhage of the gastrointestinal tract.

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In addition to claiming that Poison Control was not contacted until nearly 30 minutes after staff realized what had happened, the lawsuit alleges that the boy was kept in a room for around an hour as he was examined and monitored, FOX 12 reported. He was later sent back to class and his parents were allegedly not notified until a letter was sent out two hours after the incident.

FOX 12 reported that, at the time, the police closed their investigation after speaking with the kitchen lead by phone and being unable to establish probable cause that a crime had been committed.

The suit states that, after substitute kitchen worker Chloe Larson tasted the seasoning and discovered that it was “oven cleaner,” the kitchen lead allegedly referred to the substance as soap when speaking to administrators. 

The kitchen lead also allegedly gave varying explanations as to how the accident occurred, including claims that she was in a rush and another claim that she left the cleaner out to later use on a steamer.

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