Summary: A toddler died after an unstable Ikea furniture piece fell on him. Now the family of the baby is suing.
Two-year-old Camden Ellis was crushed on June 11, 2014, when an unstable Ikea Malm dresser tipped onto him. Now the boy’s parents are filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the furniture giant. This is the second lawsuit of its kind filed in the past 12 months.
In mid-2015, another family filed against Ikea when one of their dressers tipped and killed their toddler in February 2014.
The most recent lawsuit was filed in Philadelphia. The Ellis family is seeking compensation and damages that include medical and funeral expenses.
Ikea responded to the deaths by announcing a “repair program” for 27 million dressers. The company said the dressers were unstable if not secured to a wall, and they offered to send restraint kits to anyone who purchased the furniture. The company wouldn’t comment on specifics of the impending litigation, and it was careful to note the repair program was not a recall, even though technically it is.
“The safety of our customers is the highest priority at Ikea,” Ikea said in a statement.
The lawyers for the two families said that while Malm dresses did come with anchor restraints, the instability of the furniture placed a burden on the consumer. It also alleges Ikea designs and sells furniture that doesn’t meet the industry standard for stability.
Falling furniture leads to more than 38,000 emergency room visits in the United States, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Source: Philly.com