Workers Sue Family Dollar Over ‘Massive Rodent Infestation’ at West Memphis, Ark. Facility

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Family Dollar has been hit with a proposed class action that claims the retailer negligently exposed workers to a “long-lasing and massive rodent infestation” and unsanitary conditions at its West Memphis, Arkansas distribution center.

The 18-page case comes several months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the facility and issued a safety alert in which the agency warned consumers to discard “numerous potentially hazardous or contaminated products” that came from the rodent-infested distribution center.

Per the case, the FDA issued a 21-page report on February 11, 2022 that detailed “sickening scenes” discovered at the facility and indicated that the West Memphis location had a history of rodent infestation.

The lawsuit, filed by five distribution center employees, alleges Family Dollar was aware of the potentially hazardous situation at its West Memphis facility yet failed to take any measures to address the rodent infestations and other unsanitary conditions. According to the case, the discount retailer has demonstrated “a much larger and troubling pattern of willful and intentional neglect” that has endangered the health, safety and well-being of its employees.

According to the case, the FDA’s inspection of the West Memphis distribution center was preceded by multiple inspections throughout 2021 by the Arkansas Department of Health, who the suit says reported in April 2021 that “effective measures were not being taken to stop the rodent infestation.”

Per the suit, the FDA investigation into the facility that began in January 2022 resulted in the agency issuing a safety alert on February 18. The case says that the FDA observed, among other unsanitary conditions, “live rodents, dead rodents in various states of decay, rodent feces and urine, evidence of gnawing, nesting and rodent odors throughout the facility, dead birds and bird droppings, and products stored in conditions that did not protect against contamination.” The safety alert went on to report that over 1,100 dead rodents were removed from the West Memphis facility following fumigation, the complaint states.

Moreover, the lawsuit notes that a review of company records indicated that at least 2,300 rodents had been collected between March 29 and September 17, 2021, apparently demonstrating “a history of infestation.”

Per the suit, Family Dollar issued a voluntary recall of certain items on February 18, 2022 due to potential contamination and temporarily closed over 400 stores across six states in order to remove the recalled products from shelves. The potentially contaminated items included human and pet foods, cosmetics, medical devices and over-the-counter medications, according to the complaint.

The case notes that rodents can pass on a “plethora of diseases” to humans, including salmonellosis, an infection caused by Salmonella bacteria.

According to the suit, Family Dollar failed to take “even slight care” to address the rodent infestation at its West Memphis facility and placed workers at an “unreasonable risk of harm.”

The case looks to represent all workers who were employed by the defendants—Family Dollar Stores, Inc.; Dollar Tree, Inc.; Family Dollar Services, LLC; and Family Dollar Stores of Arkansas, LLC—at the West Memphis, Arkansas distribution center within the past three years, worked more than 20 hours in any work week during that timeframe, and were exposed to the rodent infestation and its byproducts and effects.

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