Ikea Lawsuit Over Fatal Furniture Tip-Over Accident

The parents of a two-year-old boy from West Chester, Pennsylvania have filed suit against the Ikea Corporation alleging that the furniture store did not do enough to warn customers of the potential hazards caused when their three and six drawer dressers topple over.  The toddler was killed in February, 2014 when the 136 pound Ikea brand “Malm” dresser fell on him and crushed his chest.  His mother found him pinned between his bed and the dresser when she went to wake him up in the morning.

The lawsuit claims that Ikea was negligent in their design of their dressers and should have modified them to prevent their potential to fall over.  The suit also alleges that Ikea failed in its responsibility to educate and warn customers of the dangers associated with these dressers.

In a statement released by Ikea, the manufacturers stand behind their product and claim it is safe when properly installed and anchored to the wall.  Ikea has always provided wall anchors in their packaging, but has re-issued 27 million free anchoring kits to each of the customers that have bought dressers between 23.5 inches and 29.5 inches in height.  Ikea has been working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and has included replacement tip-over restraints, wall-anchoring hardware, instructions, and warning labels in each of the free anchoring kits.

Unfortunately, the product safety kits were not put out soon enough to save the life of a 23-month-old toddler from Washington who died when his three drawer dresser fell over on him in June of 2014.  His dresser, along with the dresser of the West Chester boy, was not anchored to the wall when they fell over.   The CPSC and Ikea have confirmed that a total of 14 reports have been made of the Malm dressers falling over with four people sustaining injuries in these mishaps.

According to the CPSC, one child is injured every 24 minutes in the United States from furniture or television sets falling on top of them.  In addition, two children a month die across the U.S. as a result of injuries sustained in furniture and television tip overs.

Philadelphia Products Liability Lawyers of Galfand Berger, LLC Represent Victims Injured by Defective Products

If you or someone you know has been injured or killed by a defective product, you may be entitled to receive compensation.  The experienced team of Philadelphia products liability lawyers at Galfand Berger, LLC has over 65 years of experience successfully handling some of the toughest personal injury and product liability cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Call us today at 1-800-222-8792 or complete our online contact form to schedule a consultation today.

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