Current:Home > ContactDollar General to pay $12 million for alleged violations including blocking exits -MarketEdge
Dollar General to pay $12 million for alleged violations including blocking exits
View
Date:2025-04-16 22:23:18
Dollar General will pay $12 million and improve safety at its 20,000 stores nationwide to settle claims it put workers in danger with practices including blocking emergency exits, the Department of Labor said.
The discount retailer will have to significantly scale back its inventory and improve stocking to prevent unsafe storage that hinders exits and makes electrical panels and fire extinguishers inaccessible, the federal agency announced last last week.
"This agreement commits Dollar General to making worker safety a priority by implementing significant and systematic changes in its operations," Douglas Parker, assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, stated. "These changes help give peace of mind to thousands of workers."
Dollar General faces fines of up to $100,000 a day, up to $500,000, if such problems are found in the future and not fixed within 48 hours, the settlement stated.
The accord includes all of Dollar General's 20,000 stores in the United States other than its pOpshelf locations, the Labor Department said.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with OSHA to resolve these matters. We remain committed to ensuring a safe working environment for our employees and a pleasant shopping experience for our customers," a spokesperson for Dollar General said in an email.
Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General operates the country's biggest chain of dollar stores and employs more than 170,000 people.
The $12 million fine is not the first for the company, which since 2017 has been handed more than $15 million in penalties. Last year, Dollar General became the first employers to be listed by OSHA as a "severe violator" for repeatedly violating workplace regulations.
The chain's stores have also been backdrops for robberies and gun violence.
Nearly 50 people have died and 172 injured in Dollar General stores between 2014 and 2023, according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archives. In September, Dollar General said it was donating $2.5 million after a shooting killed three people at one of its stores in Jacksonville, Florida, including a 19-year-old employee.
- In:
- United States Department of Labor
Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance.
veryGood! (61669)
Related
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Hollywood celebrates end of actors' strike on red carpets and social media: 'Let's go!'
- Fights in bread lines, despair in shelters: War threatens to unravel Gaza’s close-knit society
- Cleaning agent found in the bottled drink that sickened a man and triggered alarm in Croatia
- 'Most Whopper
- An industrial robot crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packing plant in South Korea
- Blake Shelton Playfully Trolls Wife Gwen Stefani for Returning to The Voice After His Exit
- Shop the Best Early Black Friday Coat Deals of 2023: Save Up to 50% On Puffers, Trench Coats & More
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Southwest Airlines says it's ready for the holidays after its meltdown last December
Ranking
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Ohio State's Ryan Day denies giving Michigan's signs to Purdue before Big Ten title game
- The actors strike is over. What’s next for your favorite stars, shows and Hollywood?
- Plastic balloon responsible for death of beached whale found in North Carolina
- Average rate on 30
- FBI searching for Jan. 6 suspect Gregory Yetman in Middlesex County, New Jersey
- 10 alleged Gambino crime family members and associates arrested on racketeering, extortion charges
- India, Pakistan border guards trade fire along their frontier in Kashmir; one Indian soldier killed
Recommendation
US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
Kim Kardashian fuels Odell Beckham Jr. dating rumors by attending NFL star's birthday party
Artists’ posters of hostages held by Hamas, started as public reminder, become flashpoint themselves
Japanese automaker Honda reports its 3Q profit jumped on strong demand at home and in the US
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Get in Formation: Another Buzz-Worthy Teaser for Beyoncé's Renaissance Film Is Here
The story of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, the Michael Jordan of frontier lawmen
Japanese automaker Nissan’s profits zoom on strong sales, favorable exchange rates