APPLE VALLEY, Minn. - Home giant Ikea has agreed to a settlement that pays $50 million to the families of three children who were killed when their Ikea dressers tipped over and crushed them, including one toddler from Minnesota.
The settlement, reported by attorneys for the impacted families, will be split evenly among the survivors of Ted McGee of Apple Valley, Curren Collas of West Chester, Pennsylvania and Camden Ellis of Snohomish, Washington.
In addition to the $50 million settlement, Ikea will donate $50,000 to three childrens' hospitals in memory of the three boys.
A $100,000 donation will also be made to children's safety nonprofit, Shane's Foundation NFP, the law firm said.
Johanna Iritz, a spokeswoman for Ikea in Sweden, said Thursday "it would be inappropriate to comment," adding the settlement was pending a U.S. court approval. She referred further questions to its U.S. division. A message from the Associated Press seeking comment from Ikea's U.S. headquarters in Conshohocken, near Philadelphia, wasn't immediately returned.
After the death of young Ted McGee, the third child killed by a Malm dresser, Ikea announced in June that it would recall at least 29 million dressers. At the time, the furniture retailer also announced it would stop selling its popular "Malm" series of products.
The law office of Feldman Shepherd announced details of the settlement on its website Wednesday. Besides splitting $50 million between the three families, IKEA will:
- Donate $50,000 to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in memory of Curren Collas, $50,000 to a children’s hospital in Washington State in memory of Camden Ellis, and $50,000 to a children’s hospital in Minnesota in memory of Ted McGee.
- Donate $100,000 to Shane’s Foundation NFP, an organization devoted to children’s safety with a focus on furniture tip-over prevention and education.
- Agree to only sell chests and dressers in the United States that meet or exceed the performance requirements of ASTM F2057-14, the national voluntary safety standard for clothing storage units.
- Increase funding for its “Secure It” program to raise awareness of the risk of tip-overs, to include national television advertisements, internet and digital communications and in-store warnings.
Following McGee's death Sen. Amy Klobuchar urged the recall of IKEA dressers and co-wrote the Stop Tip-over of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act, which would direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to adopt a stronger, mandatory stability standard for storage units, including chests, bureaus, and dressers, which are a major category of furniture at risk for tipping over.
“IKEA has taken some responsibility for these deaths both through the settlement and the biggest furniture recall in the history of America," said Klobuchar in a released statement. "The danger furniture tip-overs pose goes beyond IKEA’s Malm dressers. Until we have effective standards in place, kids will continue to be at risk of injuries and death. We need to pass my bill to prevent any further tragedies, ensure stronger standards across the board, and protect our children.”
