Zenaida Perez’s FCPS Case: Dismissal and Parental Consent Law

A federal judge dismissed the Zenaida Perez FCPS lawsuit on May 8, 2026, throwing out all five counts of the Centreville High School teacher’s whistleblower, defamation, and First Amendment claims against Fairfax County Public Schools after multiple investigations found her allegations that a school social worker facilitated a student’s abortion were unsubstantiated and likely fabricated.¹

Who Zenaida Perez Is and What She Alleged

Perez is a veteran English as a Second Language teacher who had taught at Centreville High School for nearly 20 years. In May 2022, she said, a 17-year-old student privately told her that school social worker Carolina Diaz had arranged, facilitated, and paid for the student’s abortion, which Perez placed around late 2021.² She also said a second student told her Diaz had pressured her to obtain an abortion, though that student chose to continue her pregnancy.³

Perez said she raised the concerns with then-principal Chad Lehman on several occasions in 2022 and flagged them again to his successor, Erik Healey, in January 2025.⁴ The allegations did not become public until August 2025, when a conservative blog called WC Dispatch published them together with a handwritten note Perez presented as the student’s own account.⁵

What the Investigations Found

Fairfax County Public Schools commissioned an external investigation by the law firm King & Spalding. Its interim report, released in October 2025, concluded that Perez’s claims were “likely false and fabricated” and found no evidence that Diaz encouraged, facilitated, or funded any student abortion.² Diaz had followed protocol by referring the student to a Health Department nurse stationed at the school, and records indicated that a relative listed as the student’s guardian had been contacted.⁶

Investigators also raised questions about Perez’s evidence. The handwritten note she gave the blogger had similarities to her own handwriting, and during an October 2025 webinar hosted by Americans United for Life, Perez acknowledged that she, not the student, had written it, saying the student dictated the contents because of a language barrier.⁵ FCPS further alleged that Perez had gathered false or manipulated statements from students to support her claims.⁶

The investigation surfaced context on the friction between Perez and Diaz. In May 2022, Perez had been disciplined for purchasing a pregnancy test for a student, an act the district said violated policy, and Diaz was the staff member who reported that conduct to administrators.² The King & Spalding report noted that Perez had expressed a desire “to bring adverse attention” to Diaz.⁷

In January 2026, Superintendent Michelle Reid told the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that the allegations were “based largely on statements that were misinterpreted, mistranslated, taken out of context, or in some cases knowingly fabricated,” and that no further investigation was warranted.⁸ Her statement noted that the student was an unaccompanied minor and that the procedure had taken place in Maryland.⁹

The Lawsuit Perez Filed

On October 20, 2025, FCPS placed Perez on paid administrative leave for suspected “serious professional misconduct.”¹⁰ Nine days later she sued the district, Superintendent Reid, former principal Chad Lehman, principal Erik Healey, and administrator Montell Brown. Americans United for Life, a self-described “single-issue pro-life law practice,” represented her, with Steven H. Aden as lead counsel and Monique Miles of Old Towne Associates as co-counsel.¹¹

The complaint alleged that FCPS defamed her, violated the Virginia Whistleblower Protection Law, and infringed on her First Amendment right to speak on matters of public concern. Perez said the district’s public statements and the King & Spalding report had destroyed her professional reputation and would leave a “lifelong” stain on her record.⁵¹²¹³

Why the Judge Dismissed the Case

Judge Trenga dismissed all five counts of Perez’s Second Amended Complaint on May 8, 2026, and ordered the case closed. The counts covered whistleblower retaliation, defamation, school board immunity issues, and violation of First Amendment rights to speak on matters of public concern.¹

On the whistleblower claim, Trenga wrote that Perez “failed to plead facts which, when viewed most favorably to her, plausibly give rise to a claim for whistleblower retaliation.” The three-year gap between her initial 2022 reports and her placement on administrative leave in October 2025 was too long to support causation without additional proof, he said, citing the principle that in employment retaliation cases a delay of more than two months typically requires further evidence.¹⁴

On the First Amendment claim, the court found that school officials could reasonably believe the district’s interests outweighed Perez’s speech interests, particularly because she had not provided evidence to administrators at the time of the events and instead published her claims years later through a political blogger.¹ Trenga also ruled that the school board and its members possessed legal immunity because their actions were conducted within the scope of official duties and lacked evidence of malice.¹⁴

The opinion favorably referenced the King & Spalding investigation, citing its findings that Perez had “falsified evidence and refused to cooperate” with the school’s internal probe.¹⁵ None of the multiple investigations into Perez’s allegations had substantiated her claims.

Virginia’s Parental Consent Law and the Maryland Detail

Under Virginia Code § 16.1-241, a minor in Virginia must obtain either parental consent or a successful court petition before an abortion.¹⁶ The FCPS supplemental statement noted that the abortion at the center of the allegations occurred in Maryland, which does not require parental consent for minors in such circumstances.⁹ FCPS said its protocol calls for social workers to refer pregnant students to the Health Department nurse stationed at the school, and that these nurses are Fairfax County Health Department employees authorized to discuss reproductive health options with students.¹⁷

1
FFX Now. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Alleging FCPS Retaliated Against Teacher for Abortion Claims
2
NBC Washington. FCPS Report: Student Abortion Allegations Fabricated
3
Americans United for Life. Americans United for Life Represents Fairfax County Teacher Zenaida Perez
4
Fairfax Times. Governor Orders Criminal Probe Into Alleged Abortions at Centreville High School
5
Virginia Mercury. Fairfax Case Alleging School-Assisted Abortions Now in Federal Court
6
NBC Washington. Centreville Teacher Who Alleged Social Worker Helped Student Get Abortion Sues FCPS
7
WJLA. Fairfax County Investigation Into Abortion Claims at Centreville High School
8
Northern Virginia Magazine. FCPS Investigation Finds Staff-Facilitated Abortion Claims Are Untrue
9
Fairfax County Public Schools. Supplemental Statement, Appendix A
10
Americans United for Life. Americans United for Life Continues to Stand Behind Client Zenaida Perez
11
Americans United for Life. Americans United for Life to Host Press Conference Following Lawsuit Filing
12
FFX Now. Teacher Behind Centreville HS Abortion Claim Sues FCPS for Retaliation, Defamation
13
CourtListener. Perez v. Fairfax County Public Schools
14
WJLA. Federal Judge Dismisses Suit Filed by Teacher Who Accused School of Paying for Student Abortions
15
King & Spalding. King & Spalding Secures Complete Defense Victory for Fairfax County Public Schools
16
Virginia Mercury. Fairfax County Public Schools Lawyers’ Internal Probe Refutes School-Assisted Abortion Allegations
17
Fairfax County Public Schools. Letter to Frank Miller