Kroger

Reasons to avoid

1. Mislabeled bread with false calorie counts

   Kroger will pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit from three California counties alleging it falsely advertised lower calorie counts on its Carbmaster bread products than what they actually contained. The company kept selling the mislabeled packaging for at least six months after correcting its official FDA nutrition panel, and left the false values on its website for nearly two years after learning of the investigation.rivcoda.org·2026-06-08

2. Ignored ozone-depleting refrigerant leaks nationwide

   The Department of Justice reached a settlement with Kroger over Clean Air Act violations after the company failed to promptly repair refrigerant leaks releasing ozone-depleting gas from stores nationwide between 2014 and 2023. Kroger agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and spend an estimated $100 million over three years to retrofit refrigeration systems and cut its leak rate.justice.gov·2026-04-29

3. Revoked walker accommodation, then fired worker

   The EEOC filed a second disability discrimination lawsuit against Kroger in March 2026, this time over a Houston store where new management revoked a walker accommodation that had been in place for three years for an employee with neuropathy. The worker had successfully performed her job using the accommodation until her access was stripped without process, after which she was fired.eeoc.gov·2026-03-30

4. Payroll failure shorted 47,000 employees

   Kroger's rollout of a new payroll system in 2022 resulted in approximately 47,000 employees receiving missed, late, or incorrect paychecks for months, with some workers going weeks without any pay at all. The company settled four resulting class action lawsuits for $20.8 million in 2025 without admitting wrongdoing.bloomberglaw.com·2025-06-10

5. Cut shifts of breast cancer survivor

   The EEOC sued Kroger in January 2025 over an Atlanta store that stopped scheduling a breast cancer survivor after she requested permission to sit on a stool during her cashier shifts, which is a request supported by medical documentation for nerve damage caused by her cancer treatments. After she filed an internal complaint about the discrimination, the store continued to ignore her calls and left her without shifts or income.eeoc.gov·2025-01-22

6. Missed plastic bag phase-out pledge

   In 2018, Kroger pledged to eliminate single-use plastic bags from all of its stores by 2025, which it said would remove 123 million pounds of plastic waste annually. By the end of 2024, only around 700 of its 2,750 stores had followed through, while smaller chains like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Aldi had already completed the same transition.modernretail.co·2025-01-13

7. Merger blocked as anticompetitive by judge

   The FTC and nine state attorneys general sued to block Kroger's proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, arguing the merger would eliminate competition and raise prices for millions of grocery shoppers. A federal judge granted the injunction in December 2024, and Kroger abandoned the deal.ftc.gov·2024-02-26

8. Paid $1.2 billion over opioid crisis

   In September 2023, Kroger agreed to pay up to $1.2 billion to settle claims by states, subdivisions, and Native American tribes over its role in the opioid crisis through its pharmacy operations. The settlement, spread over 11 years, was one of the largest opioid-related agreements reached by a grocery chain.sec.gov·2023-09-08