Dollar Tree and Family Dollar do not provide required rest breaks and meal periods, a new class action alleges.

On Sept. 21, 2026, Tamara Kiser filed a class action lawsuit against Dollar Tree Stores Inc., Dollar Tree Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc. in the Superior Court of Washington for Clark County.

The lawsuit alleges the companies denied hourly workers in Washington the rest breaks, meal periods and wages state law requires, including pay for off-the-clock work.

The allegations

Kiser worked for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar as a nonexempt hourly employee from about April 2016 through July 2026, according to the proposed class action. Washington requires employers to give hourly workers a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours of work and bars stretches of more than three hours without one. Employers must provide a 30-minute meal period for every five hours worked.

The complaint claims Dollar Tree and Family Dollar routinely failed to provide those breaks, including second meal periods on long shifts and meal periods before or during overtime. During breaks, the companies allegedly required workers to keep working, stay on call or remain on duty.

The lawsuit says state law entitles workers to extra pay for each late, shortened or missed break, 10 minutes for a rest break and 30 minutes for a meal period, and that the companies failed to pay it.

The lawsuit contends hourly workers had to perform job duties before clocking in, after clocking out for meal periods and after clocking out at the end of their shifts. Because employees regularly logged about 40 or more hours a week, that unpaid time allegedly pushed their weeks past 40 hours without the time-and-a-half overtime pay state law requires.

The proposed class action alleges several other failures, including sick leave that did not accrue for every hour worked, pay stubs missing total hours and deductions, late wage payments and unreimbursed business expenses that pushed take-home pay below the legal minimum.

The legal claims

The lawsuit brings several claims under Washington wage-and-hour laws:


  • Washington Minimum Wage Act, which requires minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime past 40 hours a week

  • Washington Industrial Welfare Act, which requires rest breaks and meal periods

  • Washington Wage Rebate Act, which allows double damages when an employer willfully withholds wages

  • Washington paid sick leave law, which requires employers to accrue sick leave and let workers use it

  • Washington Wage Payment Act, which requires final wages at the end of the pay period after a worker leaves

The other claims cite state rules on regular paydays, itemized pay statements and payroll recordkeeping. Kiser seeks unpaid wages, double damages, civil penalties, interest, attorneys' fees, an order barring retaliation against workers and a court-appointed receiver to distribute any recovered funds.

What the lawsuit means for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar workers

The proposed class covers all current and former hourly or nonexempt employees who worked for the companies in Washington at any time from three years before the filing through final judgment.

As of this writing, there is no settlement, no claims process and no money available.