Family sues after Lake Travis ISD determined peanuts in allergic student’s locker was not bullying (2024)

by: Kelly Wiley

Posted: Apr 9, 2024 / 12:58 PM CDT

Updated: Apr 9, 2024 / 08:04 PM CDT

LAKEWAY, Texas (KXAN) – The family of a former Lake Travis High School football player is suing the Lake Travis Independent School District, including the superintendent and athletic director, after fellow football players put peanuts in their son’s locker.

In the lawsuit, which was filed on April 6, the family alleges the teens knew their teammate was severely allergic, and the district failed to take any action to prevent bullying against their son.

In a statement to KXAN, the district said it disagreed with the allegations in the lawsuit.

“We take all allegations of bullying and harassment seriously. We responded immediately when we learned of this situation, conducting a thorough investigation,” Lake Travis ISD officials said. “The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority.”

KXAN also contacted the Lake Travis ISD employees named in the lawsuit, but none have commented on the matter.

KXAN investigators previously reported the district did not initiate a bullying investigation until after the student’s parents testified at a November school board meeting more than a month after the incident happened.

The lawsuit claims the student’s mother, Shawna Mannon, had already met with the Lake Travis ISD superintendent before that school board meeting, and “the district failed to address the ongoing bullying issues.”

The suit also claims the student’s mother met with the high school’s assistant principal days after the incident and was told any disciplinary actions would be handled by the athletic director, who is also the high school’s head football coach. The family tells KXAN that the students involved were benched from playing in two football games.

Mannon has not provided an additional statement to KXAN for this report.

According to district officials, it launched a bullying investigation after the school board meeting, where Mannon testified but determined the incident did not meet the legal definition of bullying. The Texas Education Code defines bullying as “an act or pattern of acts that physically harms a student or materially disrupts the educational process.”

The district said it also worked with other law enforcement agencies and consulted the assistant district attorney’s office, but ultimately, the school police department decided criminal charges were not warranted.

The district told KXAN the Texas Education Agency reviewed the incident in its entirety. After that review, TEA determined that the district had addressed all concerns with regard to potential bullying and food allergy compliance, and found no violations of law or policy.

The lawsuit claims the high school’s principal “failed to promptly take interim action to prevent bullying during the investigation, but also investigated and produced a report that fell well short of LTISD’s policy standards for appropriateness.”

According to his mother, the student transferred to Leander ISD’s Vandegrift High School in March. The lawsuit states the move was to “escape the harassment” and came after “enduring six months of assault, harassment, and bullying.” The lawsuit also states the family sold their family home to move outside of LTISD attendance boundaries.

The family is suing the district for $1.5 million and demanding that it mandate additional training on how to intervene to stop student harassment and adopt policies that give specific guidelines to staff on addressing student complaints.

The lawsuit also gives more details about the Oct. 6 incident inside the locker room. The family alleges two students “scattered peanuts” throughout their son’s locker and recorded the act. It alleges that one of the students “attempted to clean out the peanuts” the next day by emptying the cleats and one of the players “threw peanuts at him.”

The lawsuit states the football player told his teammates putting peanuts in his locker and on his uniform could result in his death and that he showed his teammates the epi-pen he carries as a precaution.

“When he retrieved his uniform, he found it, along with his cleats, covered in peanuts, which triggered an allergic reaction,” the lawsuit stated. “Since [the student] did not ingest the peanuts or wear the contaminated uniform, he did not require emergency medical treatment.”