$20.6 Million Verdict After Defective Pool Slide Kills Massachusetts Mother

In July 2006, Robin Aleo, 29, was using a Banzai inflatable pool slide at a relative's home in Andover, Massachusetts, while her husband and 15-month-old daughter watched nearby. As she descended the six-foot slide, the inflatable structure partially collapsed. She struck the concrete pool deck head-first, broke her neck, and died the following day at a Boston hospital.

The slide had been sold through Toys R Us and was manufactured in China. Federal regulations required water slides to support 350 pounds, but this model was rated for only 200. Aleo weighed 148 pounds. When Benjamin Zimmermann of Sugarman and Sugarman investigated the case, he found no evidence that Toys R Us had ever directed independent laboratory testing to confirm the product met federal safety codes before it was imported and placed on shelves.

At trial in Essex Superior Court in Salem, Zimmermann argued that Toys R Us knew or should have known the slide was unsafe and sold it anyway without adequate testing. The jury agreed. In 2011, it returned a verdict of $20.6 million: $2.5 million for Robin Aleo's lost income from her advertising and marketing career, $100,000 for pre-death pain and suffering, and $18 million in punitive damages.

Toys R Us appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, arguing the punitive award was grossly excessive and that federal safety regulations did not even apply to inflatable pool slides. The SJC rejected both arguments in 2013. The court found the punitive damages 'adhered to state law because of the harm inflicted and the degree of reprehensibility' of the company's conduct. The full $20.6 million verdict was upheld without reduction.

Toys R Us and Walmart later recalled the Banzai slide in May 2012, citing Robin Aleo's death and injuries to two other individuals, including a person who became quadriplegic.