Ikea has reached a tentative settlement to pay $US50 million ($69 million) to three US families whose young children were killed after the Swedish furniture company's furniture fell on them, lawyers for the families said on Wednesday.
The families of Curren Collas, Camden Ellis and Ted McGee, all around age 2, sued after the children were crushed to death by chests or dressers in Ikea's Malm line. They contended that the unsafe design of the furniture rendered them "inherently unstable and easily tipped over" and that Ikea had consistently refused to meet voluntary national safety standards for the stability of chests and dressers.
More National News Videos
- Video duration
- 02:25
Toppling drawers demonstration
Toppling drawers demonstration
The danger to children of drawers loaded with weights is demonstrated in a US Consumer Product Safety Commission video.
Up Next
David Pope shows Treasurer budget cartoon
- Video duration
- 00:38
- Video duration
- 00:38
David Pope shows Treasurer budget cartoon
David Pope shows Treasurer budget cartoon
The Treasurer Scott Morrison tours the Federal Budget lock-up in Parliament House in Canberra where Canberra Times cartoonist David Pope presents the Treasurer with a pre budget picture, and gives a glimpse of the image he's working on during the lock-up.
Up Next
Budget 2017: Find out where the money is going
- Video duration
- 01:19
- Video duration
- 01:19
Budget 2017: Find out where the money is ...
Budget 2017: Find out where the money is going
The banks copped a belting and doctors will be smiling. Find out where the money is going. ?
Up Next
Big infrastructure projects in the federal budget
- Video duration
- 00:52
- Video duration
- 00:52
Big infrastructure projects in the ...
Big infrastructure projects in the federal budget
The key infrastructure projects announced in the 2017 federal budget on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AAP Video)
Up Next
Winners and losers from the 2017 federal budget
- Video duration
- 01:29
- Video duration
- 01:29
Winners and losers from the 2017 federal ...
Winners and losers from the 2017 federal budget
A look at the winners and losers from the 2017 federal budget handed down by Treasurer Scott Morrison on Tuesday May 9, 2017. (AAP Video)
Up Next
Online schools calculator shows which schools benefit most
- Video duration
- 02:04
- Video duration
- 02:04
Online schools calculator shows which ...
Online schools calculator shows which schools benefit most
Parents and schools can now see if they'll benefit, or not from the coalition's $18.6 bn education investment. Correna Haythorpe of the Australian Education Union explains.
Up Next
Maggots in mouth prompt call for inquiry into aged care
- Video duration
- 01:15
- Video duration
- 01:15
Maggots in mouth prompt call for inquiry ...
Maggots in mouth prompt call for inquiry into aged care
Jayne Carter says her mother was mistreated in her care home, and she was told her mother was found with maggots in her mouth a day before she died.
Up Next
Clive's note from the doctor
- Video duration
- 01:35
- Video duration
- 01:35
Clive's note from the doctor
Clive's note from the doctor
A doctor who wrote a note excusing Clive Palmer from appearing in court on Tuesday is ordered to front court to explain the mystery illness. Nine News
Toppling drawers demonstration
The danger to children of drawers loaded with weights is demonstrated in a US Consumer Product Safety Commission video.
"These were three very preventable deaths that never needed to occur if Ikea had simply made dressers that met the voluntary national standard," Alan M. Feldman, a partner with Feldman Shepherd, the law firm in Philadelphia that represents the families, said in a phone interview Thursday. He was referring to the safety protocols set out by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Ikea confirmed the tentative settlement in an email, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Related Content
In June, Ikea, the world's largest furniture seller, announced a recall of 29 million chests and dressers in response to the deadly accidents. At least three other toddlers have been killed in tip-over accidents involving the company's furniture.
The recall has not been extended to Australia however, with Ikea saying it was based on US safety standards.
A child dies once every two weeks on average in accidents involving toppled furniture or television sets in the US, according to the safety commission. In Australia, there has been an average of one death a year since 2000 involving furniture falling on children under nine years of age.
In a 2014 report, the commission said children were the victims in 84 per cent of the 430 deaths reported between 2000 and 2013 from tipped-over televisions, furniture and appliances; about 65 per cent of those children - or 234 - were between 1 and 3½ years old.
The settlement represented progress for consumer advocates who had been working since 1989 to hold the company accountable for the deaths of young children.
In a statement Thursday, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who had pushed for a recall of the Ikea furniture, applauded the settlement but emphasised that the danger of furniture tip-overs went beyond the company's faulty dressers.
"Until we have effective standards in place, kids will continue to be at risk of injuries and death," the statement said. Klobuchar has introduced legislation to push the commission to adopt stronger consumer safety standards for storage units.
- New York TImes