PHILADELPHIA - An IKEA dresser has claimed the life of another 2-year-old boy, says the law firm retained by his family.
On May 24, 2017, Jozef Dudek, was put down for a nap by his father in their home in Buena Park, California, accordng to Alan Feldman, lead lawyer on the team. When he went into his son's room to check on him, he found Jozef under an IKEA Malm dresser which had toppled over onto him. Jozef could not be revived.
Jozef Dudek
The law firm Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP was retained to represent the Dudek family, with litigation led by the Feldman Shepherd product liability team of Alan M. Feldman, Daniel J. Mann and Edward S. Goldis, who also represented the families of three other children who suffered fatal injuries caused by IKEA Malm dresser tip-overs: Curren Collas of West Chester, Pennsylvania; Camden Ellis of Snohomish, Washington; and Ted McGee of Apple Valley, Minnesota. It was only after Ted's death that IKEA agreed to a recall of Malm dressers as well as other furniture that contained similar safety and stability defects. IKEA paid $50 million in settlements in 2016.
"Jozef's death was completely avoidable, had IKEA adhered to safe design standards," said Feldman. "Last year's so-called recall was poorly publicized by IKEA and ineffective in getting these defective and unstable dressers out of children's bedrooms. It's terrifying that there are millions more of these dressers in homes across the country, which may cause more harm and anguish in the future."
The previous lawsuits against IKEA asserted that the unsafe design of the dressers rendered them inherently unstable and easily tipped over. The plaintiffs contended that IKEA had consistently refused to meet voluntary national safety standards for the stability of chests and dressers, which other American furniture companies had embraced.
The evidence developed in the cases showed that IKEA had been aware of other deaths and injuries arising from furniture tip-overs that failed to meet minimum safety standards, but nevertheless refused to re-design its furniture products to be more stable and tip-resistant.
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