An Oregon Dollar Tree was fined $1,900 after a rodent infestation that caused safety issues for workers - and it's part of a horrifying trend gripping dollar stores across the country
- The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Dollar Tree $1,900 on October 10 after a rodent infestation led to workplace safety violations, an OSHA representative told Business Insider.
- A store in northeast Portland, Oregon, closed temporarily in August after a KGW investigation found evidence of a rodent infestation in the store.
- Family Dollar, which is owned by Dollar Tree, has been plagued by rodent infestations, including in locations in Tennessee, Washington, Florida, and Georgia.
- A representative for Dollar Tree did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment.
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Dollar Tree has a rodent problem.
The company was hit with a $1,900 fine from the Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) on October 10, in connection with worker safety violations resulting from a rodent infestation in a store in Portland, Oregon, state OSHA records indicate. NBC affiliate KGW was first to report on the fine.
According to Oregon OSHA records, Dollar Tree did not take necessary measures to keep rodents out of the store and failed to provide proper safety equipment for employees who had to clean up feces and urine from the rodents. Oregon OSHA received three separate complaints from workers at the Dollar Tree store in Portland. One complaint said that employees were experiencing "nausea, light-headedness and headaches."
The location in question was temporarily shut down in August, after an investigation by KGW revealed evidence of a rodent infestation, such as punctured food packages, rodent feces, and chewed-up labels.
A representative for Dollar Tree did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment.
Family Dollar, which was acquired by Dollar Tree in 2015, has experienced similar infestations in its stores, including at locations in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and Virginia.
OSHA Standard 1910.141(a)(5) indicates regulations for vermin control in a workplace and is one of the standards that Dollar Tree violated, according to OSHA documents.
"Every enclosed workplace shall be so constructed, equipped, and maintained, so far as reasonably practicable, as to prevent the entrance or harborage of rodents, insects, and other vermin," reads the online description of the standard.
"A continuing and effective extermination program shall be instituted where their presence is detected," it continues.
An employee at the Portland Dollar Tree filed a lawsuit against the company in September, claiming that he was made to clean up rodent urine and feces in the Portland store without the proper equipment, KGW reported.
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