Family Dollar and its parent company Dollar Tree are facing new allegations that the discount chain stores sold contaminated or damaged products even as the companies attempt to finalize the settlement of a separate multidistrict litigation over claims that rats contaminated products at some stores.
In a proposed class action, opens new tab filed on Wednesday in federal court in Miami, Florida, a pair of Family Dollar shoppers claim they bought personal care products and over-the-counter medicines that had been improperly stored at high temperatures or in humid conditions, reports Reuters.
A spokesperson for Dollar Tree said the company doesn’t comment on active litigation but added that Dollar Tree is committed “to providing safe and effective products and to complying with all applicable laws and regulations, including product storage.”
“We believe Family Dollar profited from peddling unsafe products at a discount to people who had no other options,” said Steve Berman of Hagens Berman, who is one of the attorneys representing the consumers.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Customers Gregg Morrison and Kenneth Johnson allege in the new complaint that they bought tainted products such as anti-perspirant and caffeine pills at Family Dollar stores in Georgia and Florida. They seek to represent a nationwide class of Family Dollar customers, as well as statewide classes for Georgia and Florida customers.
The new claims follow a separate multidistrict litigation alleging that a rat infestation at a Family Dollar distribution center in Arkansas may have tainted products sold in six states. Family Dollar denied wrongdoing but agreed to a settlement that awards a $25 gift card to households with approved claims.
U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman in Memphis granted initial approval to the deal in October and has scheduled a final approval hearing for April 5.
Both the MDL and the latest lawsuit cite a 2022 U.S. Food and Drug Administration report that found rat infestations and improper temperature controls at the Arkansas distribution facility. The MDL covered products sold from that facility through February 2022.
The new complaint asserts that despite the FDA’s warnings, Family Dollar knowingly continued to store products unsafely beginning in at least May 2022 and continuing through the present. The lawsuit notes that Family Dollar issued five voluntary recalls between 2022 and 2023 for products it said were “adulterated and unsafe.”
The lawsuit is Gregg Morrison et al v. Family Dollar Stores Inc. et al, case number 0:24-cv-60294 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
For the plaintiffs: Steve Berman and Jerrod Patterson of Hagens Berman, Stuart Grossman, Manuel Arteaga-Gomez, William Mulligan and Ryan Yaffa of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, and Gerald Abdalla Jr of Abdalla Law.
