Family Dollar class action claims OTC products illegal, unsafe, defective

Family Dollar class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiffs Gregg Morrison and Kenneth Johnson filed a class action lawsuit against Family Dollar Stores Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc.
• Why: The plaintiffs claim Family Dollar sold over-the-counter products that were allegedly stored at improper temperatures, rendering them unsuitable for sale.
• Where: The Family Dollar unsafe products lawsuit was filed in Florida federal court.

A Family Dollar class action lawsuit alleges the retailer sold over-the-counter drugs, medical devices and  other products that were rendered unsafe for human use because they were improperly stored.

Plaintiffs Gregg Morrison and Kenneth Johnson claim Family Dollar stored its over-the-counter products in extreme temperatures that fail to meet the labeled temperature requirements. As a result, the Family Dollar OTC products did not meet safety, strength, quality, purity and effectiveness requirements and should not have been sold to consumers, the plaintiffs allege.

The plaintiffs point to a 2022 inspection report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that described the “deplorable conditions it observed” in Family Dollar stores, including rodent infestation and improper storage of drugs.

Following its investigation, the FDA recalled more than 400 common household products that had been stored outside their labeled temperature requirements.

Family Dollar unsafe product storage practices continued even after FDA investigation

The class action lawsuit claims Family Dollar failed to control temperatures in its facilities even after the FDA warnings about the issue. The plaintiffs allege that unsafe Family Dollar products were sold in nearly every state.

The plaintiffs also argue Family Dollar abused a position of trust it has in rural and underserved communities, where consumers frequently have few alternatives for purchasing necessities.

The plaintiffs filed the Family Dollar OTC products lawsuit on behalf of themselves and a class of other consumers who purchased at least one adulterated product from a Family Dollar Store in Florida and/or Georgia since May 1, 2022.

The Family Dollar class action lawsuit asserts claims for negligence, negligence per se, negligent failure to warn, negligent misrepresentation, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment and violations of Florida and Georgia laws.

Six days after the plaintiffs filed the Family Dollar OTC products class action, the company pleaded guilty to one federal misdemeanor charge of holding products in unsanitary conditions and agreed to pay a $41.7 million fine.

Have you ever purchased Family Dollar OTC products? Tell us what you think about the claims that the products may have been unsafe to use.

Morrison and Johnson are represented by Stuart Z. Grossman, Manuel A. Argeaga-Gomez, William P. Mulligan, Ryan J. Yaffa and Aimee A. Ferrer of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen PA; Steve W. Berman and Jerrod C. Patterson of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; and Gerald M. Abdalla Jr. of Abdalla Law PLLC.

The Family Dollar unsafe products class action lawsuit is Gregg Morrison, et al. v. Family Dollar Stores Inc., et al., Case No. 0:24-cv-60294-AHS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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