Construction Worker Left Without Oxygen for 20 Minutes After Debris Chute Collapse Wins $44 Million Settlement

In February 2018, Arian Hila was working a demolition job at the old German Masonic Home on Western Highway in Tappan, New York. He had climbed into a large dumpster to clear a blockage in a debris chute that ran three stories down from the building above. While he worked to free the clog, the chute detached from the structure and collapsed onto him, trapping him inside the dumpster beneath the wreckage.

Emergency responders took nearly 20 minutes to free Hila from the debris. The prolonged oxygen deprivation caused catastrophic, permanent traumatic brain injury. Hila, then 48 and a resident of Dumont, New Jersey, lost the ability to speak, eat, drink, and move effectively on his own. He requires round-the-clock medical care.

Attorneys Christopher Karounos, Raymond Carroll, and Paul Romano of Brandon J. Broderick, Personal Injury Attorney at Law filed suit in October 2018 against five defendants: Superchute Ltd., the Canada-based manufacturer of the debris chute; The Noble Ninth, Inc.; Hector Lizana doing business as Lizana Contracting; Demolition Doctor, Inc.; and Brown Builders Supply Corp. The defendants declined settlement discussions for more than six years.

The case went to trial before Justice Sherri Eisenpress in Rockland County Supreme Court. Seven days into jury selection and opening proceedings in 2024, the parties reached a $44 million settlement. The case resolved without a jury verdict.