New York CNN —Family Dollar Stores was hit with a record fine for violating product safety standards after selling items that were stocked in a rat-infested warehouse filled with live, dead and decaying rodents.
The retailer, a subsidiary of Dollar Tree was fined $41.6 million, “the largest-ever monetary criminal penalty in a food safety case,” the Justice Department said in a statement Monday.
Family Dollar and Dollar Tree will also be under robust corporate compliance and reporting requirements for the next three years, according to the DOJ.
The agency said at the time that Family Dollar has been aware of the rodent problem since at least January 2020.
The DOJ said Family Dollar, which has more than 8,000 stores nationwide, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of causing FDA-regulated products to become adulterated while being held under insanitary conditions.
Persons:
” Benjamin Mizer, exterminators, Rick Dreiling, “, Dreiling, – CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn, Rebekah Riess
Organizations:
New, New York CNN, Justice Department, DOJ, The, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Dollar Tree’s
Locations:
New York, Arkansas