A judge approved a $106 million settlement tied to the 2019 Hard Rock Hotel collapse.
Why it matters: The deal resolves a long-running liability event from one of New Orleans' deadliest construction disasters. It also closes a major chapter in the legal and financial fallout from the collapse.
- The settlement was approved Aug. 6, 2026, in litigation over the Oct. 12, 2019 collapse.
- Three construction workers died in the collapse: Anthony Magrette, Jose Ponce Arreola and Quinnyon Wimberly.
- The City of New Orleans said in 2020 that responding to the collapse had cost at least $12.3 million in public funds.
- OSHA cited the engineering firm, general contractor, steel erector and multiple subcontractors after the collapse.
A judge approved a $106 million settlement Thursday that ends a yearslong legal battle over the deadly 2019 collapse of a Hard Rock Hotel that was under construction in New Orleans, according to AP.
The collapse on Oct. 12, 2019, killed three workers: Anthony Magrette, Jose Ponce Arreola and Quinnyon Wimberly, WDSU reported. It became one of the city's most severe construction disasters and led to criminal, regulatory, municipal and civil fallout.
The City of New Orleans filed suit in August 2020 over the collapse, saying it had spent significant public resources responding to the disaster and its aftermath. City officials said those public costs had reached at least $12.3 million as of August 2020, according to the city's lawsuit announcement on nola.gov.
The U.S. Department of Labor said OSHA cited the engineering firm, general contractor, steel erector and multiple subcontractors after the construction collapse in an April 3, 2020 release. The settlement closes a major legal overhang tied to the project, though the accessible sources do not spell out the exact parties, allocation or release terms.
By the numbers
- $106 million - settlement approved by the judge
- 3 - workers killed in the 2019 collapse
- $12.3 million - public costs the city said it had incurred by August 2020
Yes, but: The accessible sources do not identify all settling parties, the allocation of the payout or whether any claims remain outside the deal.