Texas parents may want to ensure once again that they do not own an Ikea dresser. The retail giant recalled 17.3 million of its dressers in 2016, admitting that some of them never passed a stability test. One of the more tip-prone products, the three-drawer Kullen dresser, continued to be sold until this, too, became subject to a recall in March 2020.
Ikea has paid out some $96 million in settlements to the families of children who were crushed to death after pulling on one of its products. To date, some nine children have died in these incidents since 1989. Now, Ikea may be facing a class action lawsuit because its recall efforts were allegedly “inadequate and ineffective.”
Specifically, Ikea is accused of deliberately making it inconvenient for people to return their dressers, sometimes refusing to take back recalled products at individual stores and giving customers store credit rather than the promised refund. According to the claim, it also failed to directly contact those with the product being recalled.
The claim was filed in May 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the district where Ikea headquarters are located. The case awaits the approval of the judge, who will see if it meets the criteria for a class action lawsuit.
There are several criteria for personal injury class actions, one of which is that the plaintiffs must all have similar enough cases to justify litigating as one group. Those who think they have grounds for such a case may want to see an attorney who deals in product liability law. The attorney may be able to represent victims and strive for a fair amount in damages. A successful claim could cover things like medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost income.
