Sacramento County has been awarded more than $400,000 in a settlement with Safeway Inc. over construction violations and pricing inaccuracies.
Safeway, without admitting wrongdoing, agreed to pay $2.7 million to six counties in a consumer-protection case filed earlier this month, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully announced Tuesday in a news release.
The case, which was filed in Napa Superior Court, arose from complaints that the grocery chain failed to get proper remodeling and hot-food-station permits mandated by city, county, state and federal law, the release states.
The investigation also looked into pricing and weighing accuracy issues at Safeway stores throughout the state.
The case spanned Napa, Fresno, Santa Cruz, Solano, Marin and Sacramento counties.
Of the settlement money, $2.3 million will go toward civil penalties, more than $289,000 toward reimbursement for investigation costs, and $200,000 toward enhancing government enforcement of construction, pricing and weighing cases, the release states.
Sacramento County was awarded $412,493, of which $400,000 will be used by the District Attorney's Office for combating consumer fraud.
The remainder of the money will be distributed to the city's Building Department, the Sacramento County Department of Weights and Measures, and the county's Environmental Management Department to reimburse them for investigation costs.
Safeway agreed to take measures to assure that its stores always comply with state and local construction requirements. The company also has agreed to implement programs aimed at improving pricing and weighing accuracy, including a price guarantee of up to $5 if a consumer is charged a price that is higher than Safeway's lowest advertised price for an item at the time of purchase, the release states.
