IKEA USA to pay $46M in boy’s dresser tipover death

Furniture giant Ikea agreed to pay a record $46 million to the family of a 2-year-old in California. Ikea has already paid a total of $50 million to settle three earlier suits following the death of children in similar accidents.

Jozef Dudek, of Buena Park, California, died in 2017 of his injuries when a dresser tipped over onto him, his parents sued the Swedish home furnishings company in a Philadelphia court in 2018.

In the lawsuit, the Dudeks accused IKEA of knowing that its Malm dressers posed a tip-over hazard and that they had injured or killed a number of children, but that the company had failed to warn consumers that the dressers shouldn’t be used without being anchored to a wall. The dresser was recalled in 2016, according to the suit.

The settlement also requires IKEA to meet with the advocacy organization, Parents Against Tip-overs, and broaden its outreach to consumers about the recall of IKEA dressers, according to the Dudek’s lawyers, Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig.

The Dudek family will donate $1 million from the settlement to organizations that advocate for more rigorous stability testing for dressers, they said.

In a statement, IKEA said it offered its deepest condolences and is working to address “this very important home safety issue,” including offering consumer education and safety workshops and working to make safer products.

“While no settlement can alter the tragic events that brought us here, for the sake of the family and all involved, we’re grateful that this litigation has reached a resolution,” it said.