Dollar General Faces Nearly $1.3M Fine After Georgia Store Inspections

GEORGIA — Dollar General is facing nearly $1.3 million in fines after federal safety inspectors found willful and repeated workplace safety violations in three Georgia stores earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommended the fine after inspections at stores in Pembroke, Smyrna and Hogansville in February and March.

Inspectors found that the stores did not keep exit routes and electrical panels unobstructed, exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards. The also found the stores had been stacking materials in an unsafe manner and failed to keep receiving areas clean and orderly.

The violations are part of a pattern of disregard for worker safety at the Tennessee-based company, officials said.

OSHA has recommended more than $6.5 million in fines against Dollar General tied to 78 inspections since 2017. In February, the agency proposed a fine of just over $1 million for inspections in three stores in Mobile, Alabama, and another in Dalton, Georgia. An inspection at another Mobile location led to a fine of more than $320,000.

"Dollar General continues to make it obvious that profit means more to them than the safety of their employees," Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said. "The U.S. Department of Labor will make every effort to hold them accountable for their failures."

The Labor Department said the company had 15 days to comply with the fines, request an informal conference or contest the findings to an independent board.