IKEA to pay $46 million to parents of child killed by dresser

Placards showing images of Jozef Dudek and IKEA's Malm dressers are displayed during a news conference in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020.
Placards showing images of Jozef Dudek and IKEA's Malm dressers are displayed during a news conference in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. Copyright AP Photo/Matt Rourke
By Euronews
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Joleen and Craig Dudek said they were "devastated" by the loss of their son and planned to contribute $1,000,000 of the settlement to three organisations "fighting to protect children from dangerous products."

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The Swedish furniture company IKEA agreed to pay $46 million (€41.3 million) to the parents of a child killed by a dresser crushing him.

Jozef Dudek died at the age of two-years-old on May 24, 2017, after a MALM dresser fell on him at his family's home in California.

IKEA recalled 29 million MALM chests and other dressers in the United States in 2016 following the deaths of multiple toddlers.

"The recalled chests and dressers are unstable if they are not properly anchored to the wall, posing a serious tip-over and entrapment hazard that can result in death or injuries to children," the US Consumer Product Safety Commission recall notice stated.

Lawyers representing the family said that IKEA had been aware of tip-over incidents with the chest of drawers and sold them anyway.

In a powerpoint presentation prepared by the personal injury law firm representing Dudek's parents, two men open all three of the dresser drawers of an IKEA chest. The piece of furniture immediately begins to tip over in the video footage.

In a statement released by their lawyers, parents Joleen and Craig Dudek said they were "devastated" by the loss of their son and planned to contribute $1,000,000 of the settlement to three organisations "fighting to protect children from dangerous products."

The family's lawyers said the settlement is "believed to be the largest child wrongful death recovery in American history". IKEA is going to meet with advocates for stability standards for dressers, the family lawyers said.

The company will also work to broaden their efforts to communicate their recall.

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