Ikea facing class action lawsuit
Dressers have tipped over and killed 9 kids
Ikea is facing a potential class action lawsuit that alleges the company knowingly sold unsafe dressers that could crush small children and then issued a “feeble and ineffective” recall that has left millions of deadly products in U.S. homes.
The claim, filed Wednesday in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is the latest hit to the retail giant stemming from tip-prone dressers that have killed nine children and injured dozens more. Ikea has already paid at least $96 million in settlements to grieving families and in 2016 recalled 17.3 million bureaus.
The new lawsuit deals mainly with what is characterized as Ikea’s mishandling of that recall. It accuses the retailer of not taking back all recalled products, as required, and of offering consumers store credit instead of refunds. The lead plaintiffs, Minnesota parents Diana Dukich and John Dukich, state in the filing that they were turned away at an Ikea store when they attempted to return two recalled dressers in 2018.
“IKEA’s recall efforts have been woefully inadequate and ineffective in advising consumers of the recall, removing these dangerous products from consumers homes and reimbursing consumers for the full purchase price of the subject defective and dangerous chests,” the suit claims.
An Ikea spokeswoman declined to comment on the litigation. In a statement, she defended the company’s handling of the recall and said Ikea has invested “millions of dollars in ongoing communication about both the recall and tip-over prevention.”
The class action case could encompass millions of consumers who purchased Ikea dressers over the span of decades. One of the plaintiff ’s lawyers on the case – Daniel Mann, of Philadelphia’s Feldman Shepherd law firm – said members of the class action could expect to get back the purchase price of the dresser, plus damages.
Virtually all dressers can tip, but Ikea’s have proven particularly hazardous. When it recalled its dressers in 2016, Ikea acknowledged it had sold dressers that did not meet the furniture industry’s stability test, which is meant to ensure that a dresser remains upright when pulled on by children. If not anchored, the company said, the bureaus could become dangerously unstable. Last year, the company for 16 weeks sold another dresser that did not meet the voluntary stability standard. That dresser was recalled in March.
About 1.54 million Ikea bureaus have been returned or repaired since the 2016 recall, according to the company. Advocates suggest that millions of the recalled products likely remain in homes today and they have pressed the company to do more to raise awareness of the recall. Ikea has said that many of the units were sold so long ago that they are no longer in use.
In January, Ikea agreed to pay $46
Was my dresser part of the recall?
If you own a Malm dresser sold between 2002 and mid-2016, there is a good chance it was recalled. But there are more than 100 other lines of Ikea dressers included as well. A full list of products, along with steps for taking part in the recall, is available at www.ikeausa.com/saferhomestogether.
I own a recalled dresser. Should I keep it or get rid of it?
If it is not anchored, first make sure it cannot be reached by children.
The recall allows people to keep or return the item, but safety advocates recommend that the dressers be removed from homes, because of the concern that they will not be anchored or they will later be used by someone unaware of the recall. Many of the recalled dressers can be returned for a full refund. Consumers can bring the dresser to the any Ikea retailer, or Ikea will come pick it up from your home, free of charge.
I want to keep my Ikea dresser. What are my options?
You should anchor it to the wall. You can request a free wall anchoring kit from Ikea and install it yourself, or Ikea will send someone to your home to attach it for you, free of charge.
Do I need a receipt to take part in the recall?
Typically a receipt is not required, but Ikea says that it can request a receipt based on the total number of dressers being returned by one customer.
million to California parents Joleen and Craig Dudek, who said they were unaware that the three-drawer Malm dresser in their son Jozef’s room had been recalled before it fatally tipped on him in 2017.
The newest suit – filed in the district where Ikea’s U.S. headquarters is located – goes beyond the previous claims from parents whose children died in tipovers, focusing not only on the safety of the dressers but whether Ikea has done enough to get those dressers out of homes. Safety advocates have long accused Ikea of minimizing the threat and of encouraging consumers to anchor the units to the wall rather than return them to the store for a refund.
Before the case can move forward, a federal judge will have to determine whether it meets the criteria for a class action lawsuit: foremost, that the class members’ claims are similar enough that it makes sense to litigate them as a group.
William Hubbard, a law professor at the University of Chicago, said the documented danger posed by the dressers shouldn’t weigh on that decision.
“Instead, it’s really a question of whether the badness, or the lack of badness, by Ikea is common to the entire class,” he said. Hubbard, who had not reviewed the lawsuit, said the plaintiffs could have a strong case if Ikea’s recall procedures were designed to make the recall “inconvenient for people,” or to limit engagement.
Ted Frank, a lawyer at the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute who is well known for handling class action cases and for criticizing unfair class action suits, said the plaintiffs will have to prove that Ikea committed a “deliberate failure to engage in the recall.”
“If, on the other hand, some people are getting refunds and some people are getting gift cards and it’s a problem of incompetence at individual stores, it’s going to be harder to get a class certification,” he said.
The class action filing accuses Ikea of mishandling nearly every aspect of the 2016 recall, which covered dozens of dressers sold by the retailer dating back to 1985. It alleges that Ikea failed to directly contact consumers who had purchased the dressers, refused to take back recalled products and provided store credit rather than the refunds consumers were promised.
Mann said he has heard from consumers who were turned away by Ikea for trying to return dressers that had been painted or for trying to return multiple dressers, including someone who had purchased them for rental units. He said the Dukichs were told they could not return their dressers because the items were missing a small product label.
“Since the recall, we received calls from people who attempted to return dressers and were unable to do so for various reasons,” said Mann, whose firm has filed several cases against Ikea. “And we realized over time that Ikea appeared to make some sort of a conscious, corporate decision to limit the ability of consumers to return the product even though they had agreed that consumers were entitled to a full refund.”
Mann said he purchased three Ikea dressers in 2014, after his firm began representing a Pennsylvania woman whose son died in a tip-over, but has received no notification from Ikea that the dressers have been recalled. The Dudeks have also said they were never notified that the dresser that fell on their son in 2017 had been recalled the prior year.
Ikea spokeswoman Leticia Bradley disputed that the company has not directly contacted those who purchased a recalled product and said it has sent over 16.7 million emails about the recall to its customers, including members of its loyalty program.
Consumers who own a recalled dresser can request a free anchoring kit from Ikea or return it, in most cases for a full refund. Ikea will pick up the dressers from buyers’ homes.