Mass. court affirms $20.6m award in slide death
By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer September 13, 2013 2:36PM
BOSTON (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts has upheld a $20.6 million jury award to 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 — including $18 million in punitive damages — finding that the slide sold by Toys R Us did not comply with federal safety standards.
Toys R Us appealed, arguing that the regulation cited by Aleo’s family does not apply to inflatable in-ground pool slides, but only to rigid pool slides.
Aleo, of Louisville, Colo., was visiting relatives in Andover at the time.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday that there was enough evidence to support the jury’s findings and said the $18 million in punitive damages did not exceed constitutional limits.
