I-TEAM: Settlement funds for Dollar General price swapping lawsuit being used for local foodbank

WHIO Staff
·2 min read

A local foodbank became the recipient of a chunk of money from a settlement between Dollar General and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office today.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: I-TEAM: Investigation of Dollar General price swapping claims prompts $1M settlement, policy changes

On Wednesday, the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office presented a check for nearly $23,000 of the settlement money to The Foodbank, Inc. in Dayton. The amount was Montgomery County’s portion of the state’s $1 million lawsuit settlement with Dollar General over pricing inaccuracies, which News Center 7′s I-Team has been reporting on for months.

The lawsuit came after dozens of Dollar General locations, including 22 in Montgomery County, failed inspections during a price verification sweep in 2022. At the end of 2022, there was improvement with 13 county locations failing a second time and six failing three times in a row.

Keith told the I-Team’s Mike Campbell Wednesday that all the Dollar General stores in the county have finally passed their inspections.

Now that settlement money will be going to help more people in our area.

“$1 here provides four meals for a family in need,” Lee Lauren Truesdale, chief development officer for The Foodbank, Inc., said.

>> RELATED: I-TEAM: Area Dollar General stores continue to fail inspections amid price swapping accusations

Truesdale said shelves at The Foodbank, Inc. don’t stay full for long because it’s the main supplier for over 100 pantries and partners across the area, mostly in Montgomery County.

“Making those wholesale food purchases, but the funds also help cover our back docks, helps our trucks run five days a week picking up at 60 local store donors,” Truesdale said.

That’s why it was all smiles as The Foodbank, Inc. leaders joined the county auditor and inspectors in his staff that helped hold Dollar General accountable on Wednesday.

“That shelf price should match what they pay at the register, that’s what we’re all about, trying to make sure people get what they paid for,” Keith said.