Walmart Mainstays Dresser Recalled for Safety Concerns

In the fall of 2017, the Walmart Mainstays dresser was recalled for serious tip-over safety concerns. The manufacturer of the Walmart Mainstays dresser, Ameriwood Home, is working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to get the word out about this recall which affects 1.6 million multi-drawer units sold in a time window between April 2009 and May 2016.

The tipover risk associated with the Walmart Mainstays dresser could create a hazard, particularly in homes with small children. The piece of furniture can cause serious injury by the force of its fall, potentially pinning a person underneath.

A report by ABC News refers to a joint statement made by the CPSC and Ameriwood Home in which the Walmart Mainstays dresser is said to not meet voluntary compliance standards of the U.S. furniture industry. Over a million units of the Walmart Mainstays dresser have been removed from stores that are a part of the Walmart chain, as well as the Walmart website and any other retailers that might sell the chest of drawers.

The CPSC has advised consumers, if they have purchased a Walmart Mainstays dresser whose model numbers appear here within the specified date range, to cease using it unless effort is made to secure the furniture to the wall. This is especially true for purchasers who live in a home where there is a small child.

A consumer can contact Ameriwood Home via their website to seek a free anchoring kit.

The Harsh Reality of Furniture Tip Over Accidents

According to an article by Consumer Reports, at least one person is injured by a furniture or appliance tip over accident every 17 minutes in the U.S. alone.

These tip over accidents often involve inexpensive and unstable chest of drawers like the Walmart Mainstays dresser, which retailed for around $60, but they can also involve televisions and larger appliances.

When these accidents involve small children under six, the consequences can be devastating even when the weight of the object relative to other possible tip over items is light. The biggest problem with lightweight and inexpensive chests of drawer units is that they become really unstable when more than one drawer is left open.

This fact combined with the natural curiosity of a toddler can spell disaster. Young children have been known to pull drawers out and use them as stairs to climb. Their body weight with the inherent instability caused by extended drawers can cause the whole unit to fall on top of the younger and cause asphyxiation.

In these situations, the sound of the falling over of the dresser may be absorbed by the child’s body and not be heard by parents as close as the next room. Minutes may pass before the accident is discovered by an adult.

According to Consumer Reports, the CPSC identified a 33 percent increase in tip over accidents between 2015 and 2016. Anchoring dressers to walls is one way to proactively prevent these potentially devastating events.

Join a Free Walmart Dresser Tip Over Recall Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased a Mainstays dresser from Walmart.com or in a Walmart store that was part of a tip over hazard recall, you may be entitled to compensation.

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