Witness to CVS coupon incident says there’s more to this viral story

A CVS customer snub initially characterized as a racial incident now appears to be more complicated than that.

An Edgewater resident who was at CVS when a white manager called the police on a black woman after rejecting her coupon, says customer Camilla Hudson was “going off loudly,” refusing to leave, and following the other manager when he went into the employee-only part of the store.

On Friday, Hudson, 53, posted on Facebook the now-viral video of CVS employee Morry Matson calling the police to remove her from the CVS Pharmacy at 6150 N. Broadway. “I had the police called on me for attempting to use a coupon @ the CVS Pharmacy located at 6150 N. Broadway in Chicago!” she said in her post which has received national media attention and nearly half-million views on Facebook.

Another customer, Marquecia Jordan, says she saw the whole thing. She reached out to the Chicago Sun-Times on our Facebook page.

The Sun-Times called Jordan to find out more. “I was there looking for a snack, and suddenly I hear this woman yelling, she raised her voice, was yelling at the manager ‘Is this what you consider customer service?’” Jordan said.

Jordan said Hudson created a scene. “I was very uncomfortable, the other customer that was standing there with me, she looked uncomfortable,” Jordan said. “It’s being reported that they called [police] because of a coupon, that’s just not it.”

Hudson “emphatically” denies going into the employee-only area after the unidentified manager “slammed the door in my face” but she says she did stick her face in “so I could establish eye contact with him.”

“I never invaded his personal space. At no point was I yelling, using profanity, I was not disruptive beyond being a customer demanding, if you will, what I feel is an appropriate manner to address my concerns,” Hudson said. She wanted the supervisors to explain why they would not accept the coupon, because she felt his refusal to accept it was “accusatory” and “contentious.” She says the manager told her it looked handwritten and that he had never seen a coupon like that.

Hudson said the supervisor did not scan the coupon, even though the company that issued the coupon later confirmed was legitimate. According to a CVS coupon policy, “we have the right to refuse or limit the use of any coupon and/or the subsequent return for any reason and at the discretion of CVS Pharmacy management.”

Jordan said she did not hear the conversation with the managers when they refused to accept the coupon and could not tell if it was inappropriate. But “when she followed the other manager through the store, being belligerent, I consider that harassment.”

After she followed the other manager down the aisle, Hudson says that’s when Matson came from the front of the store to tell her he called police, though they hung up on him. Hudson says she told him to call again, and after she heard him accuse her of harassing him and the other manager, she started recording the now-viral video.

Audio from police scanners confirms Matson called police on Hudson for “harassing customers” and “making threats.” Hudson claims she was only threatening to call the corporate customer service line.

Jordan feels CVS employees faced an unusual situation. “I feel like (the other manager) and Morry could have handled the situation better, but I would imagine that they had not been trained to handle that specific type of situation. When the guy walked away from her, he should not have done that, but she also did not have to follow him,” Jordan said. “When Morry called the police … that’s what I would do.”

Hudson said a CVS representative called her after the incident to apologize. After an investigation the company announced on Monday the two managers were no longer employed. CVS spokesman Michael DeAngelis said security footage was reviewed, but would not comment further about the investigation.

Matson, a candidate for alderman in the 48th Ward, says he is now dropping out of the race because of health issues. In a statement, he said he must undergo brain surgery next week to remove a lesion after he had a seizure in May. He was running as an Independent candidate.

Matson had been a leader of a recently reactivated Log Cabin Republicans chapter, a group that advocates for gay conservatives. After the incident at CVS was reported, his leadership was terminated by the national organization.

“What happened to (the other manager) and Morry is a natural consequence of their choices and their actions,” Hudson said. “There is nothing I did … that should’ve resulted in the police being called. I don’t apologize for my behavior. My own son has said to me, you could have left, you could have de-escalated it … as a black woman, I’m tired of it. For it to be on my plate to take the high road and deescalate situations.”

Matson has not responded to Sun-Times requests for comment on the incident.