Civil Complaint Filed Against Arlington Heights School District 25 and Former School Nurse Tory Eitz for Harm to Children by Medicine Theft and Replacement

Eitz stole children’s prescription medicine for herself. School officials were aware of concerns and chose to do nothing.

CHICAGO (April 17, 2025) – Arlington Heights School District 25 utterly failed to support medically vulnerable children by allowing a school nurse to act with impunity when she failed to provide the children’s proper prescription/controlled substance medication during school hours. Instead of being a trusted support person as they learn and grow, Westgate Elementary School Nurse Tory Eitz instead did real and future harm to nine children and disrupted their health, education and sense of trust and security – while her employer, Arlington Heights School District 25 (AHSD), Principal Ann Buch and then-Assistant Superintendent Brian Kaye had the notice and ability to stop her... and actively chose not to. These reckless behaviors and decisions not to intervene have destroyed the children's trust in authority figures and healthcare providers, disrupted physical/social-emotional learning in school, resulted in missed educational opportunities, diminished self-worth from “out of routine” write-ups and or removal from classrooms, disruption of medical treatment often including increased dosage of medicine because perception was that current dose wasn’t working, and a disruption of the family dynamic.

Today, national civil rights and personal injury law firm Romanucci & Blandin announces the filing of a lawsuit holding those responsible accountable for this harm to children, including the nurse (who has since been fired and criminally charged), District 25, Westgate Elementary Principal Buch and then-Assistant Superintendent Kaye. Kaye is now District 25 Superintendent.

Case Background

During the times detailed in the civil complaint, 2021-2024, Tory Eitz was the school nurse at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, where, among other duties, she was responsible for dispensing student medication during the school day. This procedure is described in detail in the District 25 handbook and explains how medication is supposed to be cataloged for each student, how written records are to be kept, and signatures provided when medication is distributed and taken. The nurse is expected to maintain a precise count of medication used and remaining.

Nurse Eitz abused and manipulated the relationships with parents who entrusted their children to her care, telling parents medicine was missing, fell down the sink, or for some reason was miscounted... and that she needed more, often asking to meet parents in the parking lot of the school to provide the medicine to her. Many of these prescriptions were controlled substances. Also, in some circumstances, signatures on medicine logs did not match those of parents. Eventually, a parent expressed concern. Later, in April of 2024, Kaye, in a text message to one of the Plaintiffs, admitted to having prior notice of the concern. No action had been taken to investigate, report or terminate this behavior to protect the children. The evidence now points to the conclusion that Nurse Eitz stole medication from students and replaced the missing medication with non-prescription medication such as aspirin, in direct violation of the doctors’ orders for these children.  In one case, a young student tested positive for fentanyl as details of this scam became clear.

During the course of our civil investigation, we learned that District 25 administrators and school officials had notice of improper administration of medication, missing medication, and the failure to follow protocols when that medication went missing. This goes back as far as a November 2021 written communication from a parent.  Defendants Buch and Kaye were aware of concern that Eitz was breaching her trust with the students and their families as a medical professional working as a school nurse for District 25. Eitz should have been reported and terminated at the time of the first parental report.

We believe this evidence is a clear indication of District 25’s notice and active complicity in Tory Eitz’s actions to steal and replace student prescription medications. The District’s willful and reckless actions put the well-being and safety of many children at risk. The administration’s failure to take accountability then and now is both stunning and deeply disappointing.

When parents were finally informed of the situation by the school in April 2024, the community connected the dots, and the outrage and calls for accountability began. The District stonewalled Romanucci & Blandin’s efforts on the families’ behalf to secure information through Freedom of Information Act Requests, ultimately leading the law firm to appeal to the Illinois Attorney General’s office to intervene. District 25 has since terminated the employment of Tory Eitz for her gross misconduct, including substituting and/or switching students’ medications that were stored at Westgate Elementary School.

Further, when Buch and Kaye learned of the actions of Tory Eitz, they did not report concerns as they are required under the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. All individual defendants named in this civil action (Eitz, Buch and Kaye) are mandatory reporters given their professional roles under the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

Criminal Charges for Tori Eitz

On October 1, 2024, the State of Illinois filed a thirteen-count criminal indictment against Eitz for alleged crimes committed in the course and scope of her employment as a school nurse for District 25.  The criminal case against her is still pending. The next status hearing is May 5, 2025, at 9:30 am in room 110 in the Rolling Meadows courthouse.

The Plaintiff families believe justice should come in many forms, including both civil and criminal accountability. They call on the State’s Attorney’s Office to fully hold Eitz accountable, which includes jail time for her actions.

The criminal charges include:

• One Count of Official Misconduct by a public employee for forgery with the intent to defraud in the alteration of medication administration records of students;
• Five counts of forgery, for allegedly documenting the initials of parents signifying they had picked up medication from the school, when in fact they had not; and
• Seven counts of causing a child to be endangered for failing to properly secure and maintain the prescription medication of children at Westgate Elementary School, including swapping out prescription medication from bottles and replacing pills with non-prescription aspirin tablets and/or non-prescription famotidine.

Civil Lawsuit Details

The lawsuit was filed April 16, 2025, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois Law Division, and demands a trial by jury.  Defendants in the complaint include Arlington Heights School District 25, Former Westgate Elementary School Nurse Tory Eitz, Westgate Elementary School Principal Ann Buch and current District 25 Superintendent Brian Kaye, who was Assistant Superintendent at the times noted in the complaint.

Plaintiffs are named as John/Jane Doe Parents as natural guardians for their respective children to protect the children’s identities and medical histories. There are nine Doe families, each with their own separate complaint. The plaintiffs are represented by the Chicago-based national trial law firm Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, including Managing and Senior Partner Gina A. DeBoni, Partner Michael E. Holden and Partner Michael D. Cerasa.

Claims in the lawsuit include:

COUNT I – Willful and Wanton Conduct against AHSD

COUNT II – Negligence against AHD

COUNT III – Willful and Wanton Retention against AHSD

COUNT IV – Negligent Retention against AHSD

COUNT V – Willful and Wanton Failure to Report against ANN BUCH

COUNT VI – Negligent Failure to Report against ANN BUCH

COUNT VII – Willful and Wanton Failure to Report against BRIAN KAYE

COUNT VIII – Negligent Failure to Report against BRIAN KAYE

COUNT IX – Willful and Wanton Failure to Report against TORY EITZ

COUNT X – Negligence against TORY EITZ

COUNT XI – Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against TORI EITZ

COUNT XII – Fraud/Forgery against TORY EITZ

COUNT XIII – Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against TORY EITZ

COUNT XIV – Family Medical Expense Act

“Our client families share heart-wrenching stories about the harm done to their children by the actions of Tory Eitz and District 25. They call Eitz a predator. These parents explain in detail the ‘harsh realities’ the kids are learning about drugs and addiction, and that some people hurt others for their own benefit, and sometimes, those people are nurses or authority figures. Also painful is that the children are learning that the people at school who had the highest level of responsibility for their safety had all the notice they needed to take action and instead chose not to, including the District 25 Board of Education who did not hold school leaders accountable,” said Romanucci & Blandin Managing and Senior Partner Gina A. DeBoni.

“Further, many of our parents say they moved to District 25 to secure a safer, brighter future for their children. Due to the alleged criminal actions of one and the cowardice of many, these families’ experiences have been horrific. Their children have nightmares and extreme anxiety now about doctors’ appointments and being at school. The parents add that those who abuse innocent children are the lowest members of our society. Those that sweep abuse under the rug to keep their employment are equally low. Perhaps worse. The administration knew the difference between right and wrong but chose to enable Tory Eitz instead of protecting the kids they were entrusted to protect,” said DeBoni.

“The harm done to each of these children is very real, and it is impossible to assess how this experience will impact them as they grow into teenagers and young adults. Keep in mind that before any manipulation of their medication, each of these children was working through a health condition that challenged them during school and required medical attention, including prescription medication. If you then layer on physical ramifications of not receiving their proper medication and the social/emotional distress by the disruption of trust, these elementary school children face an uphill battle navigating their own healthcare as well as relationships,” said Romanucci & Blandin Partner Michael E. Holden.

“The reckless and intentional decisions made by District 25, Principal Ann Buch and then-Assistant Superintendent Brian Kaye clearly violated their duty to supervise Tory Eitz. They had notice of missing medication and parents’ concerns as early as November 2021, including written communications in May 2022 and June 2022, that should have been reason to conduct an independent investigation and/or terminate her access to children. The notice of concern should also have been the direct catalyst to report Tory Eitz to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, given their responsibility as mandatory reporters. These kids were betrayed by multiple adults and a school district they trusted,” said Romanucci & Blandin Partner Michael D. Cerasa.

Learn more about Romanucci & Blandin’s investigation into this matter.

About Romanucci & Blandin

Romanucci & Blandin is a Chicago-based national trial practice committed to fighting for victims of negligence, abuse and wrongful death. For more than 25 years, we have secured more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for our clients - many for millions of dollars and others record-setting awards.  Our experience ranges from mass shootings, civil rights and police misconduct to medical malpractice, sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents or workplace injury cases involving individual or institutional negligence. Romanucci & Blandin is a valuable legal resource to individuals and groups of people who have been injured by others’ wrongdoing. Referring attorneys and clients say several factors differentiate our firm: Our record of success, depth of experience, talented and dedicated legal team, tireless preparation and strategic use of communications to fight for the rights of those whose lives have been changed forever. We are different from other personal injury firms in that our work does not stop when a verdict or settlement is secured.  We are often inspired by our clients’ experiences and commit resources to create change in our communities. For more information about Romanucci & Blandin, please visit www.rblaw.net or call (312) 458-1000.