CVS Apologizes After White Manager Calls Police on Black Customer

coupon carl calls police on black woman for trying to use coupon

CVS is apologizing to a black woman who had the police called on her by a white store manager in Chicago after accusing her of trying to use a counterfeit coupon. 

"CVS is actively investigating what happened and we will take any corrective action that is warranted based on the outcome of our investigation," spokesman Mike DeAngelis said in a statement. "The employees who were involved in the incident will not be working in the store pending the findings of our investigation."

The incident came to light after Camilla Hudson posted a video and photos of the coupon she attempted to use to her Facebook page late Friday night in a post that quickly went viral (Facebook removed the post for unspecified violations. Hudson later reposted the video and photos). 

Hudson told Block Club Chicago that she went to the CVS to try and use a coupon at a self-checkout machine. But when the machine didn't work, she was offered assistance by the store manager, identified as Morry Matson. When he called for a second manager, he accused Hudson of counterfeiting the coupon. 

“He was nasty, he was unprofessional, he was dismissive, he was accusatory,” Hudson told Block Club. “His entire tone and demeanor was offensive and problematic.”

Hudson says she asked the CVS store managers to contact their corporate office to try and resolve the issue, and followed and filmed one of the managers when he walked away from her. She tells Block Club that at no point did she yell or "raise my voice, I did not use profanity." 

Matson then called the police for the second time while Hudson stood, filming the call on video. 

The pharmacy chain apologized to Hudson for the incident and says it will conduct an investigation. 

“CVS does not tolerate any practices that discriminate against any customer and we are committed to maintaining a welcoming and diverse environment in our stores . . . Profiling or any other type of discriminatory behavior is strictly prohibited.”

Matson was a delegate for Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign and has also worked on behalf of the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ wing of the Republican party. He's also running for an open alderman seat for Chicago's 48th Ward. According to Raw Story, Matson has a history of counterfeiting himself. 

A vote on extending a lake path from Edgewater to Rogers Park was taken off the 2016 November ballot after it was discovered Matson falsified five pages of signatures on petitions calling for the vote. 

Coupon Carl is the latest in a serious of incidents that see white bystanders calling the police on black people for little or no reason, most famously the case of "Barbecue Becky" who called police on a family grilling in an outdoor park in Oakland. 


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