LAUSD seeks dismissal of student fentanyl overdose lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The Los Angeles Unified School District wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the mother of a 15-year-old girl who died of a fentanyl overdose in a high school restroom in 2022, arguing in new court papers that the tragedy was unforeseeable and that district was not obligated to monitor bathroom stalls for drug over consumptions.

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Plaintiff Elena Perez's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges that Bernstein High School officials knew there was a problem with drug use at the Hollywood campus, but took no action that could have saved her daughter, Melanie Ramos. The coroner's report stated that Melanie died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl on Sept. 13, 2022.

But in court papers filed Wednesday with Judge Lisa R. Jaskol in advance of a June 18, 2025, hearing, LAUSD lawyers contend the Bernstein High administration did not fail Perez or her daughter and that neither the district nor the administrators had advance knowledge that Melanie and a friend would hide in a handicapped bathroom stall and take drugs that day.

"Because persons who overdose on fentanyl may die in a matter of minutes, Bernstein's campus supervisors would have needed to constantly monitor the interior of the bathroom stall and any other hiding spot to prevent plaintiff's injury,'' the LAUSD lawyers argue in their court papers.

Imposing on schools the duty to constantly monitor hiding places would not further a policy of preventing future overdoses and deaths, and the LAUSD is not "morally blameworthy'' for not having such policies in place,'' the district's lawyers further contend in their pleadings.

In their earlier court papers, LAUSD lawyers said Bernstein Principal Alejandro Ramirez and Assistant Principal Andrew Kasek created a plan that includes monitoring the hallways, restrooms and quad, and Ramirez had a separate strategy to address student absenteeism, the district lawyers further state. Nonetheless, Melanie and a friend snorted fentanyl inside a bathroom stall in the quad, according to the LAUSD lawyers' pleadings.

In a partially redacted sworn declaration, Ramirez said he directed an office worker the morning of Melanie's death to call Perez regarding her daughter's absences from class and that Perez replied that she would speak with her later that day. However, Ramirez also said a student absent from class is not deemed to be missing.

"In my judgment according to my supervision plan, the fact that the student is absent from class was not a safety concern,'' Ramirez said.

In a separate declaration, Kasek said that in his judgment, a locked door to the female restroom was not a safety concern.

Melanie's friend had overdose symptoms, but survived. Days later, police announced the arrest of a teenage boy who allegedly sold the drug to the two students on the Bernstein campus, and a second teen boy was arrested for allegedly peddling drugs to another student at nearby Lexington Park.

Then-Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said both suspects were students at APEX Academy charter school, which is located on the Bernstein High School campus.

The teen's death also prompted the district to announce that all of its campuses would be supplied with the anti-overdose medication Narcan. Gov. Gavin Newsom subsequently signed into law SB 10, known as Melanie's Law, requiring public schools to train employees on opioid prevention techniques and response, and to increase awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.

Perez sued the district for negligence and wrongful death in December 2022.

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