Toys 'R' Us hit with Mass. lawsuit damages

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ANDOVER, Mass., Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts jury awarded $20.6 million to a man who sued Toys "R" Us over fatal injuries suffered by his wife on a swimming pool slide, lawyers said.

The Salem Superior Court jury returned the award last week to the widower of Robin Aleo, a Colorado woman who broke her neck when the slide collapsed during a 2006 visit with relatives in Andover.

The Boston Globe said Sunday the award, which included compensatory and punitive damages, was one of the largest jury verdicts in the state this year.

Attorneys for Aleo's husband and daughter argued the company's Toyquest Banzai slide did not meet government safety standards for pool slides. The end of the slide "bottomed out" causing Robin Aleo to hit her head on the end of the pool, the Globe said.

She was rendered a quadriplegic in the incident and was taken off life support at the age of 29. Her family sued for wrongful death.