Kathleen Koch, mother of Locust Valley teen who died after falling off sailboat, sues NUMC chairman Matthew Bruderman, wife

The mother of a Locust Valley teen who died after he fell off a sailboat in Oyster Bay Harbor last year alleges in a lawsuit that he was served alcohol at a party hosted by Nassau University Medical Center Chairman Matthew Bruderman and his wife — even though he was underage and visibly intoxicated.

The lawsuit, filed by Kathleen Koch in Nassau Supreme Court in August, said Bruderman and his wife are responsible for the May 2023 death of her son, Jack Winder Koch, 19. The body of Koch, who had just completed his first year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was found by a fisherman in waters off Caumsett State Park in Lloyd Harbor nearly two weeks after he disappeared.

"Koch was caused to fall overboard and drown in whole or in part by the conditions created by defendants Matthew J. Bruderman and Kerri Bruderman, in causing his intoxication and the intoxication of other underage guests at the premises," the lawsuit said. "Tragically, plaintiff’s decedent Jack Winder Koch passed away due to the negligence of defendants."

Attorney Alice Trueman, who is representing the Brudermans in the lawsuit, declined to discuss the case with Newsday. 

In court papers filed in response to the lawsuit, the Brudermans deny allegations they provided and served alcohol to minors. The filings said the Brudermans had no knowledge of underage drinking and that the couple was not on the premises when the party occurred, court papers filed by Trueman show.

A representative of the Nassau County Police Department said an investigation conducted after Koch’s disappearance and death did not turn up any evidence of wrongdoing. "After a thorough investigation, which included the Missing Persons Squad and the Homicide Squad, there was no criminality found," Nassau police spokesman Scott Skrynecki said last week.

Nicole Turso, a spokeswoman for Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, said charges were not filed against the Brudermans after Jack Koch’s death.

The papers filed by Trueman on behalf of the Brudermans ask Kathleen Koch for authorization to obtain her son's death certificate, medical records and pharmaceutical records. The papers also request the names of witnesses to the incident as well as relevant photos, videos and accident reports, as well as the names and qualifications of experts the plaintiff hopes to call to testify at trial.

The lawsuit does not specify the monetary value of the damages Kathleen Koch is seeking.

"We are committed to uncovering the answers to the many questions raised by the events at the heart of this lawsuit," said Kathleen Koch’s attorney, Michael P. Napolitano, of Garden City. "As this matter is still under investigation and discovery is ongoing, we are unable to comment further."

According to the lawsuit, Matthew and Kerri Bruderman hosted a party at their Centre Island home on May 15, 2023. Jack Koch attended the party, the lawsuit said, along with other underage guests. The Brudermans allegedly provided alcohol before the event and then served it to underage guests, including Koch, who the court papers say became intoxicated.

The lawsuit also argues that Matthew and Kerri Bruderman failed to properly supervise their guests. Later that evening, Koch and another underage guest — both intoxicated — left the party and headed toward Long Island Sound in a sailboat, the lawsuit said. Koch fell overboard near the mouth of Oyster Bay Harbor.

"Due to the intoxication of both plaintiff’s decedent Jack Winder Koch and the other underage guest on the sailboat, plaintiff’s decedent Jack Winder Koch drowned," the lawsuit said.

Koch’s body was pulled from the water near Caumsett State Park by three Oyster Bay bay constables on May 28, 2023. The massive search conducted in the wake of his disappearance also included personnel from the Nassau County Police Department, the NYPD, the U.S. Coast Guard and members of the Bayville, Oyster Bay and Centre Island fire departments.

The lawsuit suggests, but does not specifically say, that the Brudermans may have violated New York State law on underage drinking. State law makes it illegal for adults to knowingly provide alcohol to people under 21 and allows adults to be held liable for any damages that result from underage drinking, said Kimberly Lerner, a criminal defense attorney in Carle Place and former Nassau County assistant district attorney.

In March 2022, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman appointed Bruderman, a prominent Republican Party donor and fundraiser, as chairman of NuHealth, the private benefit corporation that runs troubled NUMC and its extended care facility.

Bruderman, an investor and entrepreneur, has clashed repeatedly with state regulators over what they call a lack of transparency over NUMC’s fiscal condition. The county legislature’s Democrats urged Bruderman, whose term expires in February 2027, to resign earlier this year over what they called a failure of leadership.

The Brudermans have given nearly $1 million in political donations to local Republican candidates since 2017, with the bulk of it in the last few years going to the Nassau and state Republican Committees, Blakeman and former gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for head of the Environmental Protection Agency.