The family of a Palo Alto high school sophomore filed a federal lawsuit against Palo Alto Unified School District after Turnitin’s AI detector flagged the student’s essay on The Crucible as 76% likely to be AI-generated. The teacher required the student to rewrite the essay under supervision, dropping his grade from a low A or high B to a C, despite the family presenting a 1,162-page revision history they say proves the essay was written by hand over several days. The suit, which seeks $150 million in damages, alleges 14 counts including discrimination, retaliation, and denial of due process, and is part of a wider wave of lawsuits challenging school reliance on AI-detection scores.