A 22-month old boy is the third child to be killed after being crushed by an Ikea chest of drawers.
Theodore “Ted” McGee was killed in February after the drawers fell on him in his bedroom while his parents thought he was napping.
“They didn’t hear the dresser fall,” attorney Alan Feldman told The Inquirer.
“They didn’t hear Ted scream.”
The toddler’s mother, Janet McGee, found the six-drawer Ikea chest of drawers on top of her son, according to The Inquirer.
The Minnesota toddler’s death comes months after US safety watchdogs and Ikea warned that the drawers had safety risks.
“The chests and dressers can pose a tip-over hazard if not securely anchored to the wall,” the safety commission said last July.
The Swedish chain then launched a campaign to send free anchoring kits to any customers who requested them.
The retailer’s safety drive came after two boys were killed in 2014 after Ikea Malm drawers toppled onto them.
A two-year-old in Pennsylvania was killed when a six-drawer chest fell on him and a 23-month-old was crushed by a three-drawer chest.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission have called the latest incident a “tragic tip-over fatality”.
It is reported that the toddler’s parents are pursuing legal action against the retailer for not issuing a stronger warning.
They purchased the chest of drawers in 2012 and claim they were unaware of Ikea’s safety warnings.
“There are currently no plans to recall Malm chest of drawers, however we are still investigating the facts of the case and the possible next steps that may be required,” an Ikea spokesperson told Metro.co.uk.
Ikea said the drawers were “not attached to the wall – which is an integral part of the products’ assembly instructions”.
“We at Ikea offer our deepest condolences to the McGee family. At Ikea, we believe children are the most important people in the world and the safety of our products is our highest priority.”
Top Comments
I read the woman's lawsuit. They're saying that the Ikea kit did not come with the anchoring fasteners and instructions on anchoring the dresser to the wall. I highly doubt what they're saying. They bought the dresser in 2014. I've never bought a furniture from Ikea but I've purchased ready-to-assemble furnitures (bookcases, cabinets, wardrobes, dressers, TV stand, open shelves) from various manufacturers in 2011 (note: earlier than 2014). They all came with wall anchors and instructions on attaching the anchors to the wall. So, it's highly likely that Ikea furnitures sold in 2014 would have wall anchors and instructions on using wall anchors.
I suppose they have to prove that Ikea failed in including the anchors and in providing instructions on how to attach the anchors. Assuming the Ikea did not fail to do these two things and the woman knew it, then she's being very unjust in putting the blame on someone else. I feel sorry that she lost her child, but it doesn't make it right to lie and blame someone else for their own stupidity and negligence.
Dressers, regardless of brand, will tip over if the lowest drawer (or even upper drawers) are pulled out and you apply weight on it. It's just physics.
Society is so wonderful ... you buy a piece of furniture, don't follow the installation instructions, leave your child unattended, then sue when the shit hits the fan! Lawyers must be salivating at all this extra money they make these days...