Popular discount retail chain Family Dollar will pay a nearly $42 million penalty after regulators found the company sold products from a warehouse infested with rodents for years.
The Justice Department on Monday said it fined the chain $41.6 million for its health violations and that Family Dollar, a subsidiary of Dollar Tree, will be under strict corporate reporting requirements for the next three years. It’s the largest monetary criminal penalty in a food safety case, the department said.
“When consumers go to the store, they have the right to expect that the food and drugs on the shelves have been kept in clean, uncontaminated conditions,” acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in a statement.
Family Dollar said it’s happy the situation has been resolved and looks forward to improving.
“Having reached full resolution with the DOJ. We are continuing to move forward on our business transformation, safety procedures and compliance initiatives,” Dollar Tree CEO Rick Dreiling said in a statement.
According to the DOJ, Family Dollar knew about the rat infestation at its now-closed West Memphis, Arkansas, distribution facility since January 2020. That year, the Food and Drug Administration opened an investigation into the plant that soon revealed shocking details.
FDA inspectors found significant evidence of rodent infestation, including feces, live and dead rats, nesting, gnawings and odor.
The facility was fumigated in 2022, and regulators found more than 1,200 dead animals.
Still, Family Dollar continued to use the facility until the FDA published its findings that year. In response, the company recalled dozens of products from 400 stores across the country.
Over the past few years, Dollar Tree has been in trouble with regulators over labor and health violations in its stores. Labor regulators have repeatedly cited the company for improper staffing and unsafe working conditions.