Squarely ruling on an emerging area of the law involving consumer class actions, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has determined that companies that fail to directly notify consumers during defective product recalls could open themselves up to deceptive conduct claims.

U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled earlier this week in Dukich v. Ikea that 10 people from around the country who purchased an Ikea MALM dresser had standing to enter an ongoing consumer class action that has been lodged against the retail giant over its allegedly negligent recall of the dresser.