A Pulaski County judge is allowing a lawsuit to continue against a dollar store chain.
Circuit Judge Morgan E. Welch denied the motion Thursday to scrap a lawsuit alleging a West Memphis Family Dollar distribution center was infested with rats. The allegations date back to early 2021 when a health inspection found the center to have a rat problem.
Attorney General Tim Griffin is suing the retailer for civil damages, negligence and violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The first rats at the distribution center were documented on March 3rd, 2021. Inspector Louis Nevala wrote of the facility in a report:
“I observed significant rodent activity on aisles 28-34 where human food is stored. I observed live and dead rodents in this area. I observed products that had been contaminated by rodents.”
The report said that management was aware of the rat infestation and that the rodents had been in the facility for more than two months. The employees said they had cleaned the pallets under aisles 28-34 where the rats were located. They also said a third-party pest control company was inspecting the facility. Nevala told them to “enhance sanitation.” They were given 16 days to rectify the situation.
16 days later, on March 19, 2021, Nevala returned again with another inspector to look at the distribution center. This report says although they did see a rodent in the facility, some measures were being taken to remove the rats including the use of sticky traps. It also said that pest control was coming three times a week.
Nevala witnessed live rodents again when he returned to the facility in April for a third inspection.
About a year later in 2022, a Memphis television station reported on the rat infestation during a news broadcast. In their report, WREG showed pictures of rats in the facility including footage of a rat being fed a potato chip. This picture was later parodied on HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" and is featured specifically in the lawsuit paperwork.
A Food and Drug Administration investigation begun shortly after the broadcast showed the facility had a massive rat problem. The FDA safety alert said more than 1,000 dead rodents had been recovered from the facility after a fumigation that year. It also said that for seven months in 2021, 2,300 rats had been “collected” from the warehouse.
“Conditions observed during the inspection included live rodents,” the alert said. “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 rats were alleged to have been found in human and animal food, cosmetics and medical products. This included surgical masks, contact lens cleaning solutions, bandages, and nasal care products.
On Feb. 18, 2022, there was a massive recall at many Family Dollar stores. 404 stores were shut down across the country, including 85 in Arkansas. Legal filings estimate this cost Family Dollar $34 million in products.
In February of this year, the company was forced to forfeit $41.5 million and pay a $200,000 fine over the infestation, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The ongoing suit is against three organizations: Dollar Tree of Virginia, Family Dollar of North Carolina and Family Dollar Stores of Arkansas, LLC. It was initially filed by then-Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and is now being taken up by Attorney General Tim Griffin after he was elected to the job.
The suit says “rodents, including rats and mice, can pass a plethora of diseases on to humans.”
It alleges that Family Dollar made “significant profits” from contaminated products and that they “knowingly exposed Arkansas consumers to potentially hazardous or contaminated products. The suit is alleging the companies violated the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, committed negligence and unjust enrichment. They are asking for punitive damages, investigation costs and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.
The Family Dollar companies filed motions to throw out the case. In their filings, they didn't explain why they wanted the case thrown out. The one-page motion to dismiss says the charges “fail as a matter of law.”
On Thursday, a judge ruled the case could continue.
Griffin applauded the judge's decision.
“I will continue to vigorously pursue this matter to hold Family Dollar accountable for these unconscionable acts,” he said in a statement.
