Toys R Us appeals $20M award in Mass. slide death

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By DENISE LAVOIE

OSTON (AP) - On a warm summer day in July 2006, Robin Aleo climbed to the top of a 6-foot inflatable pool slide and slid down head first. As she neared the bottom, the slide partially collapsed and Aleo slammed her head on the concrete pool deck, causing fatal injuries.

Five years later, a jury awarded Aleo's family more than $20 million, finding that the slide sold by Toys R Us did not comply with federal safety standards for swimming pool slides.

Toys R Us will go before the highest court in Massachusetts on Monday to ask that the award be overturned.

The national chain argues 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. Toys R Us also says the trial judge allowed lawyers for Aleo's family to inflame the jury by accusing Toys R Us of importing an "illegal" product when it had relied on a certification that the slide met all safety regulations.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130504/DA62KO3O1.html

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This undated family photo provided by Michael Aleo via his attorney shows his Robin Aleo, of Colorado, who died in July 2006 in Andover, Mass., when a pool slide partially collapsed and she slammed her head on the concrete pool deck, causing fatal injuries. Five years later, a jury awarded Aleo’s family more than $20 million, finding the slide sold by Toys R Us did not comply with federal safety standards. Toys R Us will go before the highest court in Massachusetts, on Monday, May 6, 2013, to appeal the ruling. (AP Photo/Aleo Family Photo)

[Ian David]

1. This is just a false flag operation so Obama can take our pool slides.

[marble falls]

2. Who puts a children's slide on pavement? Safety complient or not, inflatable or not.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Where else would one put a pool slide?

It was on a concrete pool deck presumably at the edge of an in-ground pool - you know, where the expectation is that after sliding down it one would land in the water, not on the deck because the damn thing collapsed.

[Earth_First]

5. I had the same thought...

However it seems aa though this was an inflateable pool likely on a surface that was not intended for proper installation.

I'm not taking the corp side on this, however it does sound suspicious on both parties accounts.

[marble falls]

6. Oh, I am no Corp fan, and I loathe Toyz R and its shoddy unregulated slave waged...

foreign built crap. Check out parks and look at the caged and tubed slides - they're never on concrete. Pool slides are. But dry slides aren't. Slides back in the day were simple open and were the source of a lot of broken arms and legs on sand or grass. Put them on pavement and there would have been deaths.

Lots of parks don't even offer slides anymore.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. It was an inflatable slide at the edge of an in-ground pool (not an inflatable pool)

and she's not the only one who was injured or died from the slide bottoming out.
Here's another article (more local) about it:
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x350483654/Jury-awards-20-6-million-in-pool-slide-death

[AngryAmish]

8. this

[Locrian]

9. ^^^ yikes that looks bad

At the very least it looks like the kid is about to bust his ass on the yellow part on top of the concrete. Head first would be horrible.