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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 7 January 2020

This photo shows an IKEA location in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan.
6, 2020.
Associated Press

IKEA to pay $46M in

boy's dresser tipover

death, lawyers say

In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Thomas Hofeller speaks during an
event at the Republican National Committee in Washington.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — IKEA and that they had injured Associated Press
has agreed to pay $46 or killed a number of chil-
million to the parents of a dren, but that the compa- Daughter of late redistricting
2-year-old boy who died ny had failed to warn con-
of injuries suffered when a sumers that the dressers
70-pound (32-kilogram) re- shouldn't be used without guru reveals more of his work
called dresser tipped over being anchored to a wall.
onto him, the family's law- The dresser was recalled in
yers said Monday. 2016, according to the suit. By GARY D. ROBERTSON A very small number of the struck down dozens of
Jozef Dudek, of Buena The settlement also re- RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Thou- documents were used by North Carolina General As-
Park, California, died in quires IKEA to meet with sands of formerly confi- the lawyers; a state court sembly districts.
2017 of his injuries, and his the advocacy organiza- dential documents and put the rest under a con- The documents Stepha-
parents sued the Swedish tion, Parents Against Tip- emails that influenced the fidentiality order. A Wake nie Hofeller retrieved from
home furnishings company overs, and broaden its out- outcome of a partisan County judge ruled in No- external hard drives con-
in a Philadelphia court in reach to consumers about gerrymandering lawsuit vember that more than tain redistricting work her
2018. the recall of IKEA dressers, have been made public. 100,000 of the documents father did in several other
In the lawsuit, the Dudeks according to the Dudek's A judge has yet to decide were no longer subject to states and also revealed
accused IKEA of know- lawyers, Feldman Shep- whether others should stay the order because they his role in the Trump admin-
ing that its Malm dressers herd Wohlgelernter Tanner confidential. were Thomas Hofeller's indi- istration's efforts to include
posed a tip-over hazard Weinstock Dodig. q The documents and emails vidual work. a citizenship question on
belonging to the late Thom- Attorneys, including one 2020 census forms. Courts
Lawsuit: Gas utility's as Hofeller were placed on representing Hofeller's busi- also blocked the citizenship

a website over the week-
ness partner, are still fight-
question for the census.
neglect led to fatal end by his daughter, Steph- ing over which of the re- The files released on the
anie Hofeller. Hofeller said maining files should stay se-
website include statistics,
she first discovered them cret. But Stephanie Hofell-
tables, maps and other
house explosion while visiting her parents' er, who was not subject to paperwork related to re-
the order because she isn't districting in North Carolina
home in Raleigh shortly af-
ter her father's death in Au-
naled weeks ago that she Arizona, Missouri, New York,
gust 2018. a party in the lawsuit, sig- and other states including
CAMPTON, Ky. (AP) — The Gas Corp., Phillip Vander- Stephanie Hofeller was es- would be making many Texas and Virginia.
deaths of three people in pool's children say leaking tranged both personally of the documents she ob- They also show extensive
a Kentucky home explo- gas ignited and exploded, and politically from her fa- tained public. data collected on behalf
sion are the fault of a utility killing their parents, WLEX- ther at the time of his death "They belong to everybody, of Republican lawyers de-
company that failed to re- TV reported. and was critical of his work. as they are evidence that fending a 2013 state law
spond adequately to con- The lawsuit says the family Last year, she contacted concern The People, their that narrowed voting ac-
cerns about the smell of called the next day and lawyers for the nonprofit right to franchise and their cess with provisions such as
gas, relatives of the explo- the same technician came organization Common access to shared resourc- requiring a photo ID.
sion victims say in a lawsuit. without fixing anything. The Cause North Carolina to es," she wrote in a state- Asked whether the docu-
The Nov. 23 explosion in- family called two more tell them about the docu- ment on the website. ments that appear on the
stantly killed Phillip Van- times but the company ments. Thomas Hofeller had a website are the same as
derpool, 52, and his wife didn't send anyone to in- The group, along with state nearly 50-year career in re- those held by Common
Sueann Vanderpool, 48. vestigate, according to the Democrats, subpoenaed districting and had worked Cause, a spokeswoman for
The owner of the home, Al- lawsuit. the files for use in a lawsuit extensively over the past the organization declined
bert Vanderpool, 80, died The lawsuit says techni- that accused Republican decade on North Carolina to comment Monday. A
days later. He was Phillip cians came to the house lawmakers of illegal racial maps that helped pad and lawyer for Stephanie Hofell-
Vanderpool's father, news the day of the explosion and partisan gerryman- retain Republican majori- er, Tom Sparks, said he was
media reported. and told the family the resi- dering in the redrawing of ties in the General Assem- confident that the files she
In a wrongful death lawsuit dence was safe and that state legislative districts. bly. Court rulings last year uploaded are authentic.q
against Troublesome Creek they would be back. q