A parent alleges in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that a teacher at Portage High School gave her minor daughter emergency contraception without the parent’s knowledge or consent.
“There is no legitimate educational or state interest that justifies a teacher acting as a clandestine medical provider or healthcare intermediary for a minor student,” the lawsuit states.
Parent Keli Zohfeld filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Hammond against the high school, school district and teacher Jill Ramian, alleging in court records that, during the second week of November 2025, when Ramian was a teacher at the high school and Zohfeld’s daughter was a minor, Ramian provided the teen with “Plan B” without Zohfeld’s knowledge or consent.
In a Friday filing, Portage High School and the Portage Township schools denied the allegations. A spokesperson for the schools said via email that the district is not able to comment on personnel matters. Ken Elwood, the school district’s attorney, did not return a request for comment.
Ramian could not be reached for comment; as of Friday morning, she did not have an attorney listed in an online court docket.
“Plan B,” also referred to as the “morning-after pill,” is a hormone-based emergency contraceptive, a backup method of birth control, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website. Emergency contraception is used to reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex, if other birth control failed or was not used, according to the site.
“Defendant Ramian took it upon herself to act as a clandestine medical intermediary, providing a pharmacological agent with known hormonal side effects and medical risks to a minor student outside of any legitimate medical or nursing framework,” the lawsuit states.
Distribution of the medication, according to the lawsuit, occurred “without the knowledge, authorization, or consent of Keli Zohfeld,” the child’s parent, who “holds the fundamental right to direct her daughter’s medical care.”
Additionally, according to the lawsuit, adults associated with the high school overheard or otherwise became aware that Ramian gave the child the medication and relayed that information to her mother.
On or about Nov. 20, according to the lawsuit, Zohfeld and her daughter were forced to seek medical treatment.
School administrators, per court records, were aware of Ramian’s actions and failed to take appropriate corrective action, or properly supervise or monitor Ramian, “who demonstrated a propensity for crossing professional and medical boundaries in her dealings with minor students.”
Zohfeld and her daughter, per the lawsuit, suffered physical harm, emotional distress, medical expenses and a violation of fundamental parental and constitutional rights.
Zohfeld’s five-count lawsuit noted negligent supervision and attention by the school corporation and the high school, as “Defendants knew or should have known that Defendant Ramian posed a foreseeable risk of crossing professional boundaries with minor students,” and was still entrusted with unsupervised access and influence over minor students.
Another count alleges that school officials violated Zohfeld’s 14th Amendment rights as a parent by administering medical intervention to a minor without Zohfeld’s knowledge or consent.
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According to an online school directory, Ramian was a special education teacher at Portage High School. Per a social media post from the Valparaiso Community Schools, Ramian was recently hired as a teacher and coach at Valparaiso High School. The post notes that Ramian previously taught special education and coached unified track and girls wrestling at Portage High School.
Brian Smith, superintendent of Valparaiso Community Schools, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Zohfeld is requesting a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and other relief, according to the lawsuit, which was first filed in Porter Superior Court on June 16 and transferred to federal court Thursday, according to court records.