Asbury Park Press

Is the recent lawsuit by three fired lifeguard managers against Belmar just another example of spurned municipal workers hoping to hit pay dirt with a fat cash settlement?

The essence of the lawsuit — age discrimination — and the ages of the lifeguards who are suing – 73, 63 and 56 — suggests that’s a distinct possibility. So, too, does the fact that the job is a low-wage, part-time job, and the aggrieved parties are not only seeking back pay and benefits and reimbursement for medical expenses, but punitive and other damages.

The three veteran lifeguards, Timothy O'Donnell, Ray Elms and Harry Harsin, claim that the borough administration deliberately replaced them with younger, less-qualified lifeguards and that a former mayor made "false and defamatory" statements about the management of the beach patrol.

The ”false and defamatory” statements were comments by ex-Mayor Matthew Doherty expressing concern about unattended lifeguard stands during the previous beach season. Doherty asked Belmar’s police chief to study the issue and make recommendations. One of the suggestions was to “restructure” the beach patrol operation. All lifeguards were required to reapply for their jobs. Elms, Harsin and O’Donnell didn’t make the cut.

Were the unattended lifeguard stands a result of poor administration, as the actions taken by Belmar strongly suggest, or of inadequate lifeguard staffing? It should be noted that the borough this year raised starting lifeguard salaries from $8.50 an hour to $10, which apparently yielded a larger crop of applicants. But Belmar faces challenges that other beach town administrators don’t. It has a mile-long strand of beach to cover, tens of thousands of swimmers to keep an eye on each summer and a history of active riptides.

Many other Shore towns, with fewer swimmers to monitor and less beach to patrol, pay as well or better than Belmar. Atlantic City's starting salary for lifeguards is 50 percent higher than the new, higher salary in Belmar. Starting salaries for lifeguards at Sandy Hook in the National Park Service Recreation Area are more than $17 an hour.

Being a lifeguard still has its attractions. The sun. The surf. The tan. The social life it can enhance. But it's far from glamorous. It requires extensive training and re-training. To be certified, which takes time and money, you must be able to swim the length of three football fields continuously, be able to tread water for two minutes using only your legs, and complete a challenging timed event. There are lots of other summer jobs that require little or no training, and offer higher pay and more marketable experience.

Be that as it may, the odds of the three veteran lifeguards winning the lawsuit should it ever go to trial are virtually nil. New Jersey is an “at will” state, which means that if you don’t have a union behind you, which the lifeguards do not, you have little shot at getting your job back or being compensated for its loss. But if the lawsuit helps shed light on whether the steps Belmar has taken to improve safety at the beach, maybe it won't be completely for naught.