Family Dollar fined more than $41 million over unsanitary conditions in West Memphis warehouse

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Federal officials have fined value-retailer Family Dollar more than $41 million as part of a plea agreement to settle a case stemming from a rat infestation and other sanitation concerns in an Arkansas facility.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas said Family Dollar Stores LLC admitted in Little Rock federal court on Monday to holding food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics in unsanitary conditions in a West Memphis warehouse facility.

The plea agreement included a fine and forfeiture of $41.675 million, the largest ever for a food safety case, according to federal officials.

The company is a subsidiary of Dollar Tree. Officials said the Monday ruling will also require both companies to meet heightened corporate compliance and reporting requirements for the next three years.

According to a spokesperson for the attorney’s office, the guilty plea included admissions that the store had shipped Food and Drug Administration-regulated products to 404 stores in Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, ...