Family Dollar pleads guilty to holding consumer products in 'rodent-infested warehouse' in Arkansas

The Department of Justice stated on Monday that Family Dollar Stores LLC pleaded guilty to keeping consumer products in what has been characterized as a "rodent-infested warehouse," according to CBS News.

The statement said that the company admitted to holding medical devices, food, drugs, and cosmetics in filthy, unsanitary conditions. The statement went on to say that there were rodents in the company's distribution center in West Memphis, Arkansas.

As a result, the company has agreed to pay $41.675 million, which the Department of Justice said was the largest monetary criminal penalty in a food safety case, per the report.

Criminal details were unsealed in federal court on Monday, which said that Family Dollar has been charged with a single misdemeanor count of causing FDA-regulated products to become damaged by being held in unsanitary conditions, according to the New York Post.

Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer 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."

“When companies violate that trust and the laws designed to keep consumers safe, the public should rest assured: The Justice Department will hold those companies accountable.”

Family Dollar and Dollar Tree are now required to meet strict corporate compliance and reporting requirements for the next three years.

“Consumers trust that products purchased from retail stores such as Family Dollar are safe,” U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross for the Eastern District of Arkansas said.

“It is incomprehensible that Family Dollar knew about the rodent and pest issues at its distribution center in Arkansas but continued to ship products that were unsafe and insanitary.”

The Arkansas warehouse continued to ship products until January 2022, when an FDA inspection discovered live rodents, dead and decaying rodents, and even rodent feces throughout the facility. Around 1,300 rodents were ultimately exterminated, and the company launched a massive recall on products sold by 404 of its stores.

"When I joined Dollar Tree's board of directors in March 2022, I was very disappointed to learn about these unacceptable issues at one of Family Dollar's facilities," Dollar Tree Chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling said in a company release.

"Since that time and even more directly when I assumed the role of CEO, we have worked diligently to help Family Dollar resolve this historical matter and significantly enhance our policies, procedures and physical facilities to ensure it is not repeated."

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