Toys R Us Told To Pay $20M Over Pool Slide Death
By Bibeka Shresth; Law360, New York
A Massachusetts jury on Thursday ordered Toys R Us Inc. to pay $20.6 million to a Colorado man who claimed the retailer sold a defective inflatable pool slide that was responsible for his wife’s death.
According to the lawsuit, Robin Aleo suffered severe neck injuries and became quadriplegic after a ToyQuest Banzai inflatable pool slide gave way, causing her head to strike the pool’s edge. Aleo was airlifted to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she was later taken off life support due to the severity of her injuries.
The jury’s award of compensatory and punitive damages is one of the largest jury verdicts in Massachusetts this year, according to Benjamin Zimmermann, a Sugarman and Sugarman PC attorney representing Robin’s husband Michael Aleo. Other defendants in the suit, including Amazon.com Inc. and ToyQuest, settled the claims before Thursday’s jury verdict.
“Although nothing can bring Robin back, this award will help provide some security for the husband and daughter who lost her,” Zimmermann said in a statement Monday.
The accident occurred in July 2006 while the Aleo family was visiting relatives in Andover, Mass. Robin Aleo had climbed onto the allegedly faulty slide to join her husband and her baby daughter, who were swimming in the pool below, according to the suit.
Michael Aleo accused Amazon, Toys R Us and ToyQuest of gross negligence and breaches of implied warranties. According to the complaint, the defendants negligently designed and manufactured the product and also failed to provide adequate instructions and warnings.
Aleo further claimed that Toys R Us had imported the ToyQuest Banzai Falls In-Ground Pool Slide from China even though the product did not comply with federal standards regulating swimming pool slides.
“We are pleased that the jury recognized the dangerous and defective nature of the product, the extent of Toys R Us’ misconduct in importing and selling it, and the deep loss that was needlessly suffered by the Aleo family,” Zimmermann said.
While the Aleo family sent demand letters to ToyQuest, Amazon and Toys R Us in 2008 and 2009, the defendants had refused to make any settlement offers back then, according to the complaint.
Toys R Us representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The Aleo family is represented by Thomas Smith and Benjamin Zimmermann of Sugarman and Sugarman PC.
Counsel information for Toys R Us was not immediately available.
The case is Michael Aleo et al. v. SLB Toys USA Inc. d/b/a ToyQuest et al., case number 2008-20149-A in the Essex Superior Court in Massachusetts.
Editing by Lindsay Naylor.
Links to coverage:
http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x2021666277/-20-6M-award-in-pool-slide-death
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/20m-awarded-to-family-of-pool-accident-victim-20111014
http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1373809
http://www.lawyers.com/our-blog/archives/1107-Pool-Slide-Fatality-Yields-20-Million-Verdict.html%20