The Arkansas state attorney general is suing Family Dollar retailer, alleging that the company was aware of a “massive and long-standing” rodent infestation at a distribution center in West Memphis, but still continued to sell potentially contaminated products stored there. .
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, came after the company temporarily closed more than 400 stores in February after a Food and Drug Administration inspection found “a history of contamination” at the facility.
A fumigation completed in January revealed the presence of more than 1,100 dead rodents. Internal company data indicated that more than 2,300 rodents were collected between March and September 2021, according to an FDA report.
Federal inspectors said the company had been aware of an “increased rodent presence” at the facility since at least January 2020.
The lawsuit filed by Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge says Family Dollar deliberately neglected proper care for its West Memphis facility and misled consumers about potentially contaminated products, while also unfairly profiting from their sales.
Ms. Rutledge said her office was demanding up to $10,000 for any violation of the Deceptive Business Practices Act and a revocation of the company’s permission to do business in the state.
“We don’t want to wipe out a source of groceries and medicines, but if those groceries and medicines aren’t safe, then we need someone else to provide that service,” Ms Rutledge said.
A spokesperson for Dollar Tree, the parent company of Family Dollar, which is also named in the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday. The company has issued a voluntary recall for products stored at its distribution center.
Family Dollar had no written procedures for quality control and cleaning of equipment at the distribution center, and had no system to track reports of contaminated products being sent to stores, according to the FDA report.
Federal inspectors found live and dead rodents in “various states of disrepair,” rodent feces and odors, signs of gnawing and nesting, and other unsanitary conditions throughout the facility, the report said.
Rodent droppings — sometimes “too many to count” — were discovered on pallets and crates containing mixed nuts, mouthwash and Jell-O, among other food and drug products. Infection with rodents can cause salmonella and deadly infections, the agency said.
The suit said other Family Dollar stores across the country have been forced to close due to rodent infestations in the past.
These closures, along with the revelations at the distribution center in West Memphis, reveal “a much larger and disturbing pattern of willful and deliberate neglect and deceptive and unscrupulous business practices,” the suit says.
