Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A recent class action lawsuit claims that Family Dollar fails to make their stores accessible to individuals with disabilities by having cluttered aisles that are hard to navigate.
Aisles in the Family Dollar stores are reportedly obstructed by “merchandise, merchandise displays, stocking carts and/or other items positioned so that they block or narrow the aisle pathways of its stores,” according to the Family Dollar class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Gayle Lewandowski says that Family Dollar puts “profit ahead of the rights of people with disabilities.” The stores are reportedly hard to navigate even for customers without disabilities, meaning that disabled consumers struggle even more to shop in the stores.
Lewandowski says she’s visited Family Dollar stores on multiple occasions but was denied “full and equal access” to the store because her disability made it impossible to shop through the cluttered aisles. When she brought her concerns to the manager, she was allegedly asked to leave the store and not come back. She claims that the lack of equal access is uniform across numerous Family Dollar stores.
“The access barriers described herein are not temporary and isolated. They are systemic, recurring, and reflective of Defendant’s marketing and store policies and practices,” the Family Dollar class action lawsuit claims. “Plaintiff has encountered the same barriers on multiple occasions and has been repeatedly deterred from accessing Defendant’s goods and services as a result.”
According to the Family Dollar class action, the lack of equal access violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This law requires all businesses to provide full and equal access to individuals, regardless of whether or not they have a disability.
Family Dollar allegedly fails to meet the expectations of the ADA by running stores that are hard to navigate by disabled individuals.
Lewandowski argues that Family Dollar’s crowded aisles are not simply a symptom of poor management or understaffing. Instead, she claims that the practice is intentional and “driven by a calculated judgment that impeding interior paths of travel increases sales revenue and profits.”
The Family Dollar class action references articles from numerous news outlets including The New York Times which states that dollar stores such as those run by Family Dollar are intentionally messy to encourage purchasing.
“Although this practice may increase profits, it does so at the expense of basic civil rights guaranteed to people with disabilities by the ADA because it results in unlawful access barriers,” Lewandowski claims in her Family Dollar class action lawsuit.
Lewandowski seeks to represent a Class of consumers with mobility disabilities who have attempted to access the interior of any Family Dollar store and who experienced access barriers. She also seeks to represent a Class of the same consumers in Pennsylvania as part of a state-wide class.
The Family Dollar ADA class action lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.
Lewandowski and the proposed Class are represented by R. Bruce Carlson, Kelly K. Iverson, and Bryan A. Fox of Carlson Lynch LLP.
The Family Dollar Cluttered Aisles Class Action Lawsuit is Lewandowski v. Family Dollar Stores Inc., Case No. 2:19-cv-00858-MJH, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
397 thoughts onFamily Dollar Class Action Says Cluttered Aisles Violate ADA
The same in Kansas City ,Kansas No matter what the Store manager does to try and improve the store the District Manager and corporate fight her on it. They keep putting stuff like PDQ’s in the Aisles that block it to get carts down. You can only have 1 cart going down the Aisle at 1 time, it is not wide enough. There is alot more i can tell you.
I HAVE BEEN THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE AND YES IT WAS MESS ALL DOWN THE ILSE TO THE POINT THAT I COULD NOT GET THE THINGS THAT I NEEDED. PLEASE ADD CHRISTINA ADAMS WHITE TO THIS LAW SUIT. THANK YOU
Add me
In Illinois it is a huge problem trying to find what you’re shopping for behind over 6ft. tall stock racks that are extremely dangerous. replenishing stock is necessary but there’s got to be a better time than early midday hours. Customers safety should come first.
Please ADD ME.
add me
Add me!!!!!
I am a 57 yr.old disabled woman and have had this similar problem in every store I have been in. They are quite cluttered and often very messy and extremely hard to get thru for a normal person let alone one who is disabled. The attitudes of some of the employees is also quite terrible – its like an effort for them to help you when you ask them to get you something. Please ad me
Add me !!!
ADD ME
Seen this Va