Retail · DG

Dollar General

Dollar General is a Goodlettsville, Tennessee, discount retailer that operates small-format stores, mainly in the United States.

The quick read Reason for concern Reviewed Aug 22, 2026

The quick snapshot

Public concern on the record.

These are summaries, not scores. Open every receipt before deciding.

Public concern

Why people pushed back

The EEOC alleged that from at least 2004 through 2019 Dollar General’s broad criminal-background screen had a disparate impact on Black applicants. A November 2019 consent decree created a $6 million fund. Dollar General denied the allegations. The settlement is not a trial verdict.

$6M EEOC settlement
2019: $6 million EEOC settlement over background checksThe EEOC announced that Dollar General would pay $6 million to settle a class race-discrimination lawsuit alleging the retailer denied employment to African Americans at a significantly higher rate than white applicants for failing a broad criminal background check. The three-year consent decree, signed by Judge Andrea Wood in the Northern District of Illinois (EEOC v. Dolgencorp, No. 13 C 4307), created a claims fund for African Americans who lost a chance at employment between 2004 and 2019.Source: U.S. EEOC ↗
Denied; settled
Dollar General denied liability; court did not rule on the meritsLittler’s summary of the consent decree notes that Dollar General steadfastly denied liability and that the federal court never ruled against the company on the substance of the EEOC’s claims. Reuters reported the same $6 million settlement and required changes to background checks. Settlement plus denial is the accurate legal posture.Source: U.S. EEOC ↗

Aug 22, 2026 · The Cookout Editorial Desk

Dollar General’s $6 million EEOC deal was about who got hired

BLUF

Dollar General paid $6M to settle EEOC claims its background checks screened out Black applicants at a higher rate.

What happened

The EEOC sued Dollar General in 2013, alleging that a broad criminal-background check used in hiring had a disparate impact on African American applicants from 2004 onward. In November 2019 the parties entered a consent decree: $6 million for a claims fund and, if checks continued, a criminology consultant to redesign the screen. Dollar General denied the allegations; the court did not decide the merits.

Disparate-impact law asks whether a neutral rule hits Black applicants harder and whether the rule is job-related. It does not require a smoking-gun slur.

The Cookout read

Concern. For a retailer that employs many Black workers, who gets past the background check is the racial-equity question. A $6 million settlement with a denial is still a $6 million settlement. This file does not treat it as a confession or as proof the current process is clean.

Open the primary source ↗

Now / update

Where the record stands.

Last reviewed Aug 22, 2026. This is present-day status, not a new verdict.

The 2019 EEOC decree’s three-year term has ended. This file does not independently review Dollar General’s current background-check policy.

Last reviewed August 22, 2026.

Source file

Open the full passages.

Links may change after publication. Dates describe the event or publication listed in the record.

01
U.S. EEOC
2019: $6 million EEOC settlement over background checks · Nov 18, 2019
Read source ↗
02
U.S. EEOC
Dollar General denied liability; court did not rule on the merits · Nov 18, 2019
Read source ↗

Community temperature check

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