By Oscar Woods 
A lot of parents searching for information about the Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready court case have been met with speculation, half-truths, and AI-generated filler. Here is what the court records actually show.
Table of Contents
Who Is Elizabeth Fraley?
Elizabeth Fraley is the founder and CEO of Kinder Ready, Inc., a Santa Monica, California-based early childhood education company she built from the ground up. She holds a Master of Education from Boise State University and a BS in Early Childhood Education from Bowling Green State University, with a teaching certification covering Pre-K through 8th grade.
Her work has been covered by TIME Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and CBS Local. She has appeared on Hallmark’s Home and Family alongside CNN journalist Lisa Ling and received an Educator of the Year award from Los Angeles County for her community contributions. Her client roster has reportedly included well-known names like Adam Sandler and Tom Arnold.
Kinder Ready serves children aged three to five, focusing on literacy development, fine motor skills, early phonics, foundational math, and social readiness for the transition into kindergarten.
What the Court Case Was Actually About
The Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready court case was a civil defamation lawsuit, not a criminal matter. No charges were filed. No arrests were made.
On October 9, 2023, Elizabeth Fraley, co-plaintiff John James Chalpoutis, and Kinder Ready, Inc. filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Santa Monica Courthouse. The case was assigned case number 23SMCV04480 and placed before Judge H. Jay Ford III in Department O.
The defendants were named as Bobak Morshed and Meline Morshed, along with several unnamed “Doe” defendants.
The Core Allegations
According to the court complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants:
- Created and operated a fake Instagram account under the name “Olivia Wilson Haydon”
- Used that account to send defamatory direct messages to at least ten known recipients
- Spread statements that the plaintiffs said were false and damaging to the reputation of both Fraley personally and Kinder Ready as a business
Under California defamation law, the plaintiff must show that a false statement of fact was published to a third party, that it was unprivileged, and that it caused measurable reputational harm. The complaint argued the messages caused exactly that.
How the Case Ended
On November 27, 2023, less than two months after filing, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice.
A dismissal without prejudice means:
- No court ruling was ever made on the actual claims
- No finding was entered against Elizabeth Fraley or Kinder Ready
- The case can technically be refiled later if the plaintiffs choose to do so before the statute of limitations expires
The case ended without a trial, without a judgment, and without any determination about the truth or falsity of the statements in question.
Prior Legal History With the Same Defendant
This was not the first legal interaction between Fraley and Bobak Morshed. Court records show that on March 16, 2022, Fraley filed a separate civil harassment case against Morshed alone, filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles County under Judge Laura Cohen.
That case was classified as a “Family: Harassment” matter. Fraley filed amended documents including a CH-100 form (a Request for Civil Harassment Restraining Order) and requested emergency court relief, but those requests were denied on March 28, 2022. The case was ultimately disposed without further ruling.
This context places the 2023 defamation lawsuit within a longer, contentious history between the two parties spanning at least 18 months.
The FOX 11 Rental Dispute: A Separate Matter
FOX 11 Los Angeles also reported a separate, unrelated dispute in October 2023: Fraley’s landlord in Brentwood claimed she owed “tens of thousands” in back rent and alleged she was operating Kinder Ready Inc. out of a residential property under a residential lease. Fraley declined an on-camera interview but communicated via email that she held a two-year restraining order against the homeowner and had filed her own court cases against them, calling their claims “mistruths.” She also reported property issues including broken pipes and mold.
That dispute was a separate civil matter and unrelated to the 2023 defamation lawsuit.
What This Means for Parents Considering Kinder Ready
The facts matter here:
- No court found wrongdoing on the part of Elizabeth Fraley or Kinder Ready, Inc.
- The defamation lawsuit was filed by Fraley, not against her
- Kinder Ready has continued operating normally since the case was dismissed
- No regulatory findings or educational violations have been reported against the program
The case is better understood as a social media defamation dispute, not an education quality or child safety issue. It reflects a wider pattern: online reputation attacks against small businesses, particularly in education, where trust is the foundation of everything.
The Bigger Picture
The Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready court case puts a spotlight on something many education entrepreneurs face but few discuss openly: the real cost of online reputational harm. A fake social media account, a handful of damaging messages, and within weeks a business owner is forced to weigh the expense and complexity of civil litigation against the risk of staying silent.
For parents, the takeaway is straightforward. Look at the actual court record. The case was filed by Fraley. It was dismissed without a ruling. Kinder Ready is still operating. No court found any issue with how the program serves children.
That is the full picture behind the Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready court case.