“Coupon Carl” Accused of Fraud

Coupon Carl

“Coupon Carl” Accused of Fraud

CVS has apologized after their store manager in Chicago called police on a black customer who was attempting to use a coupon. CVS said it is investigating the manager, who has himself been accused of fraud in a local political fight.

Camilla Hudson, the 53-year-old victim, said that she entered the CVS at 6150 North Broadway, and attempted to make a purchase using an automated checkout machine. She was unable to use a coupon for one of her items at the machine, and was offered assistance by store manager Morry Matson. He called for a second manager, whose name is unknown. That manager, according to Hudson, accused her of counterfeiting the coupon she was trying to use.

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

According to Block Club, the call was relayed to responding officers as an “assault in progress.” Hudson said the police officers who arrived were “not awful,” but did say that Matson had the authority to ask her to leave the store, which she did.

CVS has since apologized saying it will conduct an investigation. The pharmacy chain also stated that it “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 reportedly a delegate for Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, and has worked on behalf of the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ cohort of that party. Matson is also a candidate for alderman of Chicago’s 48th Ward. In campaign literature found by Block Club, Matson emphasizes his alignment with the “Silent Majority,” “Moral Majority,” and “Law and Order.” Despite those purported values, Matson was in a separate instance accused by Chicago’s Board of Election Commissioners of falsifying signatures on a ballot measure.

Hudson connected her experience to a spate of incidents–most famously the case of “Barbecue Becky”–in which white onlookers called the police on African Americans for littleor no reason. One British Tabloid has already dubbed Matson “Coupon Carl.”

“As a woman, as a black woman, as a native Chicagoan, I’m just tired of it,” Hudson told Block Club. “I’m tired of it.

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