Michael Pillig's widow sues Blue Water Yacht Club in Merrick, alleges negligence in his death

The widow of a Nassau County man who died at a Merrick marina last year has sued the facility’s owner-operator, alleging negligence in his death. 

In the suit, filed Aug. 25 in state Supreme Court in Nassau County, Suzette Pillig of Merrick alleged that her husband, Michael E. Pillig, drowned June 10, 2022, after falling through a gap in a floating dock at Blue Water Yacht Club on Bayberry Avenue. 

Named as defendants are Bayberry LLC, which owns the site, Bayberry-Kodiak Corp., which operates it, and Gary’s Marine Service, which does business there. According to the suit, all three companies are tied to Gary A. Panasuk, who according to state records is the CEO of the marine service company. 

The defendants “negligently and carelessly allowed and/or permitted a dangerous wide opening to exist” at the site and did not block the area off or put up warning signs, even though they knew or should have known people would have been walking there, according to the suit. The suit requests a “substantial sum of money as a result of the wrongful death” but does not specify damages.

Panasuk told Newsday he believed the dock was in good working order at the time of Pillig's death, and that the marina had passed Hempstead Town inspection and met industry standards. He said he had ownership stakes in the companies being sued but had been retired for over a decade.

“I don’t see how they were negligent,” said Panasuk, who lives upstate near Lake Ontario. “If this was a real dangerous situation, I’d think the 250 to 300 customers there would be complaining about it.” 

He called Pillig “a gentleman” who kept a boat at the marina since before 2013. 

Suzette Pillig could not be reached, and Frank Torres, the Uniondale lawyer who filed the suit on her behalf, did not respond to requests for comment.

No one responded to a message left on voicemail at the marina and Gary’s Marine Service, which share a phone number, and the complaint did not list lawyers for any of the defendant companies.

It was not immediately possible to locate Hempstead records to corroborate Panasuk’s assertion that the marina had passed municipal inspection. 

Online obituaries said Michael Pillig was 53. A 2022 Nassau County police news release with details matching the date and location given in the lawsuit did not name Pillig, but said police responded to a 10:18 a.m. call for a 53-year-old man who had fallen in the water, “located the victim and pulled him onto the dock where he was pronounced deceased by a Merrick Fire Department Emergency Medical Technician.” 

Police did not respond to an interview request, and Merrick fire chiefs could not immediately be reached.