WA state fines discount retailer for worker-safety violations at two Tacoma stores

A discount retailer is facing a new round of fines over safety violations declared by state inspectors at two Tacoma stores.

On Friday, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced nearly $55,000 in fines against Dollar Tree over conditions the agency said inspectors found at the retailer’s stores at 3815 S. Steele St. E. and 9830 Pacific Ave. S.

The agency said the fines were the result of “knowingly and repeatedly violating safety rules” at the two stores.

According to Friday’s release, inspectors found boxes “stacked perilously close to collapsing — potentially onto workers.”

L&I noted that in 2019 Dollar Tree “was cited and fined $500,000 for breaking the same rules, resulting in one of the largest L&I fines ever issued.”

Dollar Tree did not immediately respond to request for comment. The agency said the retailer has appealed the two latest Tacoma store citations.

Along with the unsafe stacking, the stores were cited “for blocking access to electrical panels, which contain emergency on/off switches.”

The agency said that at the Pacific Avenue store, “inspectors also found employees were not protected from falls while working at heights over 8 feet.”

Dollar Tree is known for its frequent rotation of inventory and a volume of new items incoming weekly. L&I shared documentation showing that both Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, owned by the same company, have faced citations elsewhere in the United States “for improper stacking of merchandise boxes, mostly in their storerooms, and for blocking exits or impeding pathways,” among other issues.

“Challenges with too much inventory and not enough storage space lead to high stacks of boxes, often leaning over, which cause blocked and impeded pathways and other hazards,” L&I said in Friday’s release.

The retailer faces $33,920 for the Pacific Avenue store penalties, and $20,720 for the Steele Street store violations.

“We’ve fined Dollar Tree more than a million dollars for violating safety and health rules over the past nine years. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be getting the message,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director of L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “We’ll continue to hold them accountable until they show they value the safety and health of their workers.”