Feldman Shepherd has been retained to represent the family of a 23-month-old Minnesota toddler who was killed on February 14, 2016, when a six drawer IKEA MALM dresser tipped over and crushed him. Theodore "Ted" McGee was found by his parents when they checked on him during his afternoon nap. Although paramedics were immediately called to the scene, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and Ted ultimately died later that day at an area hospital. Feldman Shepherd also represents the families of the two other children who died after they were crushed by IKEA furniture tip-overs.

The latest accident comes nearly six months after the July 2015 announcement by IKEA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) of a repair program named "Secure it!" for IKEA chests and dressers. Affecting 27 million units of furniture sold by the Swedish retailer, the announcement warned that unless chests and dressers are securely fastened to the wall, they pose a serious and potentially fatal tip-over hazard, particularly to small children.

The lawsuits filed on behalf of the toddler's families allege that IKEA designed and sold dangerous and defective dressers, including the MALM dresser line, that do not meet the furniture industry's safety standard for stability. Lead attorney Alan Feldman has explained that "IKEA refuses to design and build its furniture to minimum industry safety standards, and even after three children have died, refuses to issue an official recall, leaving literally millions of unsafe dressers in homes across the country. IKEA knows that small children are at risk and still maintains that their safety protocols are adequate, which as these three families have heartbreakingly learned, is simply not true."   

A website has been established to report tip-overs and "near misses" in an effort to aggregate similar incidents http://www.furniture-tip-over-accidents.com. Lead attorney Alan Feldman can be contacted directly at 215-567-8300 or at afeldman@feldmanshepherd.com.

(Source: Feldman Shepherd)