Dollar Tree/Family Dollar and Dollar General will pay the State of New York $1.2 million as part of a settlement for selling expired drugs and obsolete motor oil, the N.Y. Attorney General announced on Monday.
The Attorney General's Office said that investigators found over-the-counter drugs that were months beyond their expiration dates at Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree locations as well as a number of motor oils that are not suitable for vehicles for engines made after 1988 at Dollar General. Investigators even found at multiple Dollar General locations a type of motor oil, DG SAE-30, which is not suitable for engines built after 1930.
“It’s a tough pill for New Yorkers to swallow that the over-the-counter drugs they were buying may have been expired,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “New York consumers have a right to expect that products on store shelves are safe, fresh and suitable for their advertised use.
"These settlements will ensure that Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar will not only pay both a substantial fine and damages, but, more importantly, update their business practices to comply with the law so that no expired over-the-counter drugs are sold to a New York consumer again.”
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar merged in 2015, but run separate operations.
Dollar Tree/Family Dollar will pay a $1.1 million fine, and Dollar General will pay $100,000.
The stores also agreed to do the following in New York:
- Maintaining and utilizing a system for electronically recording and tracking the expiration dates on merchandise delivered to their distribution centers,
- Maintaining and enforcing policies and procedures that require employees to rotate stock when restocking store shelves, as well as conducting weekly inspections of store shelves to remove any expired products,
- Conducting monthly audits of each retail store to check for expired products, and
- Instituting third-party audits of 10% of the chains’ New York stores for a period of at least one
year to check for expired over-the-counter drugs.