Dollar General to pay $12 million for alleged violations including blocking exits

Target, Dollar General reducing self-checkout lanes

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

Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance.