Griffin: ‘Arkansans—particularly those who rely on neighborhood discount stores for everyday essentials—are entitled to products that are safe, lawfully sold, and honestly marketed’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing a $5.5 million settlement resolving the State’s consumer protection lawsuit against Family Dollar arising from conditions at a West Memphis distribution center and the sale of consumer products sourced from that facility:
“Arkansas has negotiated a $5.5 million settlement with Family Dollar and Dollar Tree entities, and will receive $3.9 million, with $1.6 million suspended. The settlement brings to a close a lawsuit that was filed by the Office of the Attorney General in April 2022 after evidence came to light that Family Dollar knowingly operated a distribution center in West Memphis that was infested with thousands of rats.
“In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted an investigation into a Family Dollar distribution center in West Memphis after a video circulated publicly showing the warehouse overrun with rodents. The FDA determined that the facility had experienced a rodent infestation since at least 2020 and that more than 3,400 rodents were removed from the distribution center between March 2021 and January 2022. During this period, products from the distribution center were shipped to all 85 Family Dollar stores in Arkansas, as well as stores in five other states. At the conclusion of its investigation, the FDA issued a public safety alert and oversaw a recall of FDA regulated products distributed from the facility.
“Based on these actions, the Office of the Attorney General sued Family Dollar for multiple violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act as well as failure to warn, violations of implied warranties of merchantability and consumption, negligence, strict liability, and unjust enrichment. The lawsuit alleged that consumer goods distributed from the West Memphis facility were stored under unsanitary conditions, that consumers were not adequately informed of those conditions, and that products unfit for sale were placed into the stream of commerce.
“In 2024, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas accepted a guilty plea from Family Dollar Stores, LLC in a federal criminal case related to the rat infestation. Part of the plea agreement was a fine and forfeiture of more than $41 million. Because of Family Dollar’s cooperation with the Department of Justice, we are suspending $1.6 million of the negotiated $5.5 million settlement.
“I am grateful to members of my Consumer Protection Division for their work on this case, including Deputy Attorney General Christine Cryer, Senior Assistant Attorney General Brittany Edwards, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Lydia Hamlet. Their dedication and careful enforcement of Arkansas law led to a resolution that ensures meaningful accountability for conduct that put thousands of people at risk. Arkansans—particularly those who rely on neighborhood discount stores for everyday essentials—are entitled to products that are safe, lawfully sold, and honestly marketed. My office will continue to enforce our consumer protection laws to safeguard public health.”
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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