The family of two teenage brothers who drowned in a Bayonne swimming pool three years ago has rejected an offer of $14 million to settle lawsuits against the city’s school district.
Chu Ming Zheng, 19, and Jack Jiang, 16, drowned at the Lincoln Community School pool on June 8, 2022, during an open-swim session, according to two separate lawsuits the family filed the following year.
The school, also referred to as Public School No. 5, is part of the Bayonne School District, which is responsible for pool operations, according to court documents.
The family’s attorney, Daryl L. Zaslow, of Edison, said Thursday the Board of Education offered $7 million for the death of each child, for a total settlement amount of $14 million.
“My clients will absolutely not accept these offers as they do not represent fair or full compensation for the inestimable, horrific and totally preventable damages caused by the gross negligence and recklessness of the Bayonne Board of Education and pool management,” Zaslow said in a statement.
An attorney for the Bayonne Board of Education was in court on Thursday morning and not available to comment.
Shortly after the deaths, the boys’ family filed a required notice of tort claim stating they planned to sue the district for $100 million.
The family later filed two separate lawsuits against the board of education – one for each son lost.
Witnesses said the boys, who had been at the pool before, were learning how to swim. Their sister, the only surviving sibling, was in the women’s locker room when the drownings occurred, Zaslow said.
The boys were in a narrow 4-foot-deep shelf-like section of the pool that dropped off suddenly to 13 feet, where they drowned, the family alleges in court papers.
N.J. family alleges lies, mismanagement, negligence in drownings of brothers
Surveillance footage reviewed by the attorneys shows one lifeguard walking away from the pool area without urgency after spotting the teens in distress, attorneys said.
Zaslow has accused the school district of lying about the required number of lifeguards on duty the night of the drownings, telling police there were three working when there were only two.
Only one of the two lifeguards entered the water in a rescue attempt, while another testified during a deposition that he didn’t go into the pool.
“Not only did he never get wet, but we have video of him walking in the lobby like he’s going out to lunch, going for coffee,” Zaslow told NJ Advance Media on Thursday.
Each lawsuit outlines eight counts alleging widespread lapses in pool safety.
The lawsuits accuse supervisors of failing to properly train staff, lifeguards of not watching the pool closely, and employees of neglecting to post warnings in hazardous areas.
The complaints argue the district was more aware of the pool’s dangers than the two teens who drowned and therefore had a duty to correct them.
Once the boys were in distress, staff failed to summon help quickly, the lawsuits contend.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com.
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