A family has filed a nearly $1 million lawsuit against an Oregon school district after pretzels seasoned with crushed oven cleaner were served to more than 50 middle school students last year. The incident occurred at Fowler Middle School on Oct. 20, 2025, when approximately 37 pretzels coated with Alto-Sham concentrated oven cleaner — a caustic industrial chemical containing sodium hydroxide — were served during sixth-grade lunch.
More than 50 students ate all or part of the tainted pretzels, according to Tigard-Tualatin School District records. The school district has described the incident as “human error,” stating a kitchen staff member mistook the oven cleaner for salt.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 9, names the Tigard-Tualatin School District, the lead kitchen worker who put the oven cleaner on the pretzels, and Fowler Middle School Principal Cindy Pellicci. It lays out seven claims, including strict liability, negligence, unlawful confinement, and violations of civil rights, seeking up to $950,220.85.
The student at the center of the case, identified only as L.L. in the filing, ate one of the tainted pretzels and immediately felt burning in his mouth and throat. The lawsuit states L.L. also experienced chest pain, stomach upset, and lingering anxiety about eating at school following the incident.
The filing provides a minute-by-minute timeline of the school's response, alleging delays in contacting emergency services and parents. Poison Control was not contacted until 11:03 a.m., approximately 27 minutes after staff realized what had happened. Furthermore, the first email to families did not go out until nearly two hours after students consumed the pretzels, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit further alleges that L.L. was kept in a room for roughly an hour, examined, and monitored without his parents being informed or his requests to call home being granted. He was later sent back to class after staff reportedly said he was asymptomatic, despite his mother stating he came home with a sore throat and stomach pain.
These claims are part of a broader negligence argument within the suit, which alleges the district failed to store caustic chemicals away from food, failed to train staff on proper chemical handling, and allowed a crushed cleaner puck to be left on a prep counter and then used as seasoning.
Tigard Police reviewed the case but did not file criminal charges. Police closed their investigation the same day after speaking with the kitchen lead by phone, citing a lack of kitchen photos or video to establish probable cause. The kitchen lead reportedly told police the salt had gotten “cakey,” though this account was not documented in police reports or heard in the police interview. The lawsuit states the kitchen lead gave differing explanations for the incident, first that she was in a rush and later that she had crushed the cleaner to use on a steamer and left it out.
The lawsuit leans heavily on the account of substitute kitchen worker Chloe Larson. According to the suit, Larson tasted the seasoning, felt a burning sensation, tracked down the discarded packet, and had to press the kitchen lead to turn it over to reveal it said “oven cleaner.” The complaint says the kitchen lead initially described the substance to administrators as soap.
The lawsuit also alleges that the school district’s outside attorney never interviewed Larson, and police only did so after she contacted them with her concerns. The complaint further states the district interviewed seven staff members but not Larson, the substitute who was in the kitchen that day.
Three federal civil rights claims are also brought in the complaint, arguing L.L.’s family was cut out of medical decisions and the student was exposed to a known danger. Legal experts note those “shocks the conscience” and Monell policy-or-custom arguments are difficult to prove.
As of Oct. 23, an attorney, Barrett Mersereau, had appeared for the defendants but had not yet filed a substantive answer. When reached for comment, the school district stated it cannot comment on pending litigation but confirmed that the kitchen lead still works in the district.
