Company to pay Sh4.6 billion after child was killed by their furniture

Ikea has agreed to pay Sh4.6 billion ($46 Million) to the parents of a two-year-old baby crushed to death by a piece of furniture.

Jozef Dudek died when Ikea’s Malm dresser, a piece of furniture associated with several child deaths, tipped over in his bedroom in May 2017.

A spokesperson for Ikea confirmed the settlement on Monday, telling DailyMail.com: ‘While no settlement can alter the tragic events that brought us here, for the sake of the family and all involved, we’re grateful that this litigation has reached a resolution.”

According to Washington Post, a year earlier, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was aware of four children killed by Malm dressers, leading the CPSC and the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea to launch a massive product recall. About 17.3 million products were recalled and consumers given the option of a refund or a kit to anchor the furniture to a wall.

But the family lawyer said Jozef’s parents never knew about the recall, and Ikea never contacted them about it.

Daily Mail reported that the family’s attorneys believe it is the largest settlement resulting from the wrongful death of a child ever paid out in United States history.

The sum is almost three times the amount paid in 2016 to settle similar lawsuits filed by parents of other kids killed in tip-overs of its dressers.

Ikea is a European multinational group that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories, among other useful goods and occasionally home services.

The company was founded in Sweden in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad.

IKEA has been the world's largest furniture retailer since 2008.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of January 2018, Kamprad was the eighth richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$58.7 billion.