Texas parents are often appalled at the creative ways their youngsters find to get themselves into frightening predicaments. Thankfully, most children walk away with just bumps and bruises from a potentially dangerous encounter. Sadly, several families suffered the unimaginable pain of losing their young child when a piece of furniture proved to be a deadly addition to a bedroom. Recently, Ikea agreed to a settlement involving a products liability claim regarding a line of their dressers.
A 2-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries when a 30-inch tall Ikea dresser toppled over on him. Tragically, his parents found him under the dresser with what proved to be fatal crush injuries to his neck. Reportedly, Ikea agreed to a $46 million settlement. In addition to the compensation, the company agrees to ensure that any of the dressers that remain in homes are retrofitted with anchoring devices to secure the furniture to a supporting wall.
The dresser involved is part of the MALM Line. They have apparently been implicated in an estimated 10 fatal tip-over accidents. The company issued a recall for these dressers in the past, but lawyers and parents have offered harsh rebukes for the company’s perceived failure to protect children from these types of accidents.
As part of the settlement, Ikea officials will meet with consumer advocacy groups to discuss safer furniture designs to help ensure future tragedies are prevented. This particular settlement is separate from two other lawsuits involving these dressers that also killed 2-year-old boys. Sadly, these types of injuries are all too common — reportedly, someone is injured or killed every 24 minutes by a piece of furniture or an appliance tipping over. Those in Texas who are injured or lose a loved one as a result of a faulty or dangerous item may consider filing a products liability civil suit to seek recovery of monetary damages and to protect others from a potentially dangerous item.