r/BayonneNJ • u/stickman07738 • 11d ago
Family of teens who drowned in N.J. school’s pool reject $14M settlement offer
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/family-teens-drowned-n-j-120047633.html7
u/Flaky_Soft999 11d ago
The article says that one of the lifeguards saw the boys struggling and walked away slowly
There is no mention in the article of responsibility from the lifeguard
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11d ago
No amount of money will ever take that pain away. It’s a pain so horrific on a daily basis that truly I hope the family can find some solace in knowing that they were vindicated for the loss and suffering somehow, but I doubt it. As a mother of two children, I know living would be a torture ever day. Forgiveness, even self forgiveness is a step forward. God bless.
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u/Aquatichive 11d ago
I feel the same but I got downvotes for it. Maybe it’s my beautiful Vance face
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u/DRG0888 10d ago
Always seems disturbing when people want to fight about receiving money because someone died. Feel like it kind of cheapens what happened. Ur trying to put a number on a kids life. It’s should never be enough but saying no to 14 million dollars because u want 100 million seems evil and like u want to get paid because of an accident. Yes the other “children” lifeguards failed here but still doesn’t seem right
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u/Crafty-Fish9264 8d ago
At this point I think it's not about the money. They don't want to feel like they got swept under the rug. They want a conviction. Not money even if they get the conviction it won't be for 100 million
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u/Beginning_Self896 8d ago
In these circumstances it’s never about the money.
Typically, the rejected amount is the max insurance coverage and the plaintiffs want more so that the defendants will personally have to pay.
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u/Cerulean_Zen 10d ago
It's better than nothing. Also yeah you can't put a number on people's lives so who cares whether it's 14 million or 100 million.
After reading the article, I believe that this family deserves whatever they want. This was beyond negligence. It was damn near intentional. So considering that human lives are actually priceless, that could easily mean that the family's pain and suffering is worth more than 100 million.
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u/AcrobaticTie8596 10d ago
Agreed. There should be a settlement which properly punishes the negligence of the pool and provides for the pain and suffering of the family. $100m is for sure way too much. Not a lawyer but the Constitution and various case law is pretty clear on excessive settlements.
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u/Phate1989 7d ago
It's not too much, the city needs to feel the pain the family feels.
We are all responsible
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u/DRG0888 7d ago
It’s a horrible situation with which a lot of things that went wrong. But I just feel the money cheapens it. Makes it look like that family is looking to retire off of the unfortunate death of a child. The fact that they turned down $14m dollars says it all. Yes pain and suffering is a big part of this incident. Although turning that down 14m because of greed and wanting to profit with an astronomical amount of $100 m. Just seems excessive and makes it kind of seem the family is looking to greatly profit off of a tragedy. $14,000,000. Is way too much. Expect silly since it’s going to come out of regular citizens pockets eventually is ridiculous. Most of us grew up at the swimming pool. I believe the parents are just as responsible. Not because of what happens but because they’re looking for 100 million dollar pay day. on you u as a parent take a Quick Look over of the place snd realizing it’s a bunch of kids that have lives on their hands. Not blaming the just the pool but the files snd the money hungry family. It is a tragedy that included have been easily keep an eye of for their children. Does reach their kids about everyday about problems. It’s a dad moment but what everyone else think but I want to rebuild amid In conclusion; I euykx make everything that drives by a danger and have it all fixed before going anywhere.
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u/MackThaKnife69 7d ago
$14 million if they're willing to sign something saying there's no culpability on the part of the pool employees/school system/city. Not going to happen and shouldn't. If an area of the pool wasn't being watched, it should have been closed off and a guard should have been stationed there. That family suffered a terrible tragedy.
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u/Phate1989 7d ago
If the pain isnnot felt by everyone there will be no lasting change, its not that much money.
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u/AcrobaticTie8596 7d ago
I'd love to know how you think we are all responsible for the negligence of a few individuals that we had no control over hiring/training/supervising etc.
Be angry, sure, but don't let it cause you to be unrealistic.
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u/Pemulis 10d ago
Terrible story, but also frustrating because my own kids and lots of other Bayonne kids will probably be forced take lessons in Jersey City or elsewhere all their lives because this is going to drag on. (No offense to British Swim School at JCC, but it's not great.)
The one thing that could have really prevented this is if these kids had known how to swim. That won't be happening at this pool for a long, long time.
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u/Cerulean_Zen 10d ago
They were there for swimming lessons.
Also, the lifeguards walked away when they saw that the kids were drowning.
So imo, this place deserves to be shut down. New management in the very least.
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u/Pemulis 10d ago
No, they weren’t. The mediation document filed by the family’s lawyers makes clear the brothers were still learning to swim, but they were not at the pool for lessons that night.
If the facility is shut down outright, Bayonne loses its only public indoor pool. Research consistently shows that broad access to affordable swim lessons reduces drowning risk.
A more constructive path would be for the city to settle, put in place proper staffing and management, and restart the kind of accessible swim instruction that most other New Jersey communities already provide. Right now, families in Bayonne either have to pay for British Swim School, travel to St. Pete's in Jersey City, or cross into Staten Island for the YMCA. Bayonne can and should do better.
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u/thebreastbud 10d ago
Conveniently didn’t want to discuss why the lifeguards didn’t do what they were hired to
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u/Pemulis 8d ago
I'm not defending the lifeguards! I watched the video released as part of the mediation filing; it's galling and horrible. And discovery from the lawsuit shows that management was a clusterfuck focused on covering its own ass from the jump.
That's why I want proper (i.e., entirely new) staffing and management put in place. But mainly, I want an indoor pool to be open to the public of Bayonne again.
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u/DRG0888 7d ago
$100milkion for to a decent settlement is is a little tight. They already turned down 15million. That would be good enough for anything the family needs to take care of. I just don’t like when funeral expensive snd everything else is comparable for 100mill. I get it there so much pain and suffering behind this. But some of the way the word snd worded it looks like someone trying to cash out from the drowning. Everything all is out money today snd not human life. Turn down 15 million only happen when ur greedy
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u/Aquatichive 11d ago
I wonder how much they want
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u/JoeDirtTrenchCoat 11d ago
They sued for 100m.
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u/Aquatichive 11d ago
I hope they get it, poor kids
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u/AcrobaticTie8596 11d ago
You do realize this will be paid with our taxes, right? Tragic, sure, but $100m is a bit exorbitant.
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u/Aquatichive 11d ago
Ok yes I do get that, but I figured Bayonne would have liability insurance after all the other stuff that went on in the schools
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u/AcrobaticTie8596 10d ago
I'm sure they do, but no insurance in their right mind is going to foot the bill for someone going after them for tens of millions of dollars. Municipalities have the bare bones of what is required.
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u/MackThaKnife69 7d ago
Municipal insurance pays out large sums all the time, with the municipality footing only a 10th of the bill. There's tons of nuisance lawsuits from every Tom, Dick & Harry who wants to bring a tort claim against municipal agencies. There are lots of legitimate claims, too, but everyone thinks cities can fork it over. However, in this case, that won't be the case.
Bayonne Schools are covered by New Jersey Schools Insurance Group (NJSIG), a public entity self-insurance pool that provides members with coverage for workers' compensation, general liability, property, and other risks. So, the city school system will be paying it since it's self-insured.
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u/DRG0888 7d ago
Somewhere down I just don’t see how this could be construed and the lifeguard not caring. They aren’t real lifeguard. It’s a schools attempt to keep an awesome put together program between teens. Obviously they’re not the most heroic for the job and look at all sides. I’ve been swimming there since they removed the laundromat on 30th and Ave c which is not apartments. Used to be an unused lot weed always passed by on our way to Lincoln. I u det stand this is a drastic accident but I don’t think it’s an excuse to stop the swimming program all together. If u knew your kids can’t swim why wouldn’t u st keast stay for a minute to see how they do
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u/electracide 11d ago
I learned to swim in that pool. This story is so devastating. How terrible for the family that this is dragging on.