- The Arkansas state attorney general is suing Family Dollar claims of a constant rodent infestation.
- The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, came after the company closed more than 400 stores in February.
- The filing alleged the firm knew about rodents in a distribution center since at least January 2020.
The Arkansas state attorney general is suing Family Dollar over constant rodent infestation at a distribution center, a filing shows.
Dollar Tree's subsidiary shut down more than 400 stores in February after more than 1,000 rodents were found in the facility. A report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that more than 2,300 rodents had been found between March and September 2021.
Leslie Rutledge, the attorney general, filed the lawsuit on Thursday. It alleged that the company knew of an increasing presence of rodents in the facility since at least January 2020. The suit says: "Many Family Dollar stores throughout the country have been forced to close due to rodent infestations in the recent past."
"Together, these facts demonstrate a much larger and troubling pattern of willful and intentional neglect and deceptive and unconscionable business practices by Family Dollar that compromise the health, safety, and well-being of Arkansas consumers," the lawsuit alleged.
Family Dollar did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment outside normal working hours.
On behalf of Arkansas, Rutledge stated in the suit that the state seeks actual and punitive damages, disgorgement, restitution, civil penalties, and injunctive relief against the company to protect consumers.
She told The New York Times that her office seeks up to $10,000 for each violation of the state's deceptive trade practices act, and does not want the company to continue business in the state.
She added: "We don't want to wipe out a source of groceries and medicines, but if those groceries and medicines are not safe, then we need someone else providing that service."
Insider reached out to Rutledge's office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In February, Family Dollar issued a voluntary recall affecting purchases made that month and in January. The recall affected food for both pets and humans, dietary supplements, cosmetics, medical devices, and over-the-counter medications.
The suit also alleged that the company lacked written procedures for quality control and equipment cleaning at the distribution center, and had no system to track reports of contaminated products sent to stores.
The FDA report, which was released around the same time as the company's recall, said the inspectors found dead rodents in "various states of decay," rodent droppings and odors, evidence of gnawing and nesting, and other unsanitary conditions throughout the facility.
Family Dollar was bought by Dollar Tree for $8.5 billion in July 2014.