Massachusetts High Court Affirms $20.6M Award in Slide Death

The highest court in Massachusetts upheld a $20.6 million jury award on Sept. 13 for the family of a woman who died after hitting her head on a concrete pool deck when an inflatable slide partially collapsed. A jury awarded Robin Aleo’s family a total of $20.6 million — $18 million in punitive damages and $2.6 million in compensatory damages — in 2011, finding that the slide sold by Toys R Us did not comply with federal safety standards. Toys R Us appealed, arguing that the 1976 Consumer Product Safety Commission regulation cited by Aleo’s family does not apply to inflatable in-ground pool slides, but only to rigid pool slides.