A cashier at a Dollar General store called the police on a black customer after he deemed she had used too many coupons, less than a week after a CVS employee did the same thing in Chicago.
Madonna Wilburn was checking out with $30-worth of groceries at the discount shop in Buffalo, New York, on July 18 when a manager believed to be Ken Dudek accused her of ‘trying to take advantage of the system’ by using digital coupons.
Dudek became increasingly frustrated while trying to figure out how to apply the coupons, allegedly telling the mother-of-four: ‘I hate people like you’.
A manager at a Dollar General store, identified as Ken Dudek, was caught on camera calling the police on a black woman, Madonna Wilburn, for trying to use digital coupons
Wilburn, a mother-of-four, started recording the incident after Dudek accused her of ‘trying to take advantage of the system’, also allegedly telling her: ‘I hate people like you’
Wilburn, a special education and history teacher, said she was trying to maximize her on a haul of cleaning supplies by using the Dollar General app.
Dudek reportedly told her the coupons were for the wrong items and wasn’t listening when she tried to explain the deals in question allegedly telling her to ‘shut up’.
Wilburn pulled out her phone to record the interaction ‘to protect myself against his nasty attitude in case anything happened’, she said in a Facebook post.
The video, which has been shared nearly 3,500 times in the last week, shows Dudek behind the cash register saying: ‘Just trying to take advantage of the system, is what you’re doing, and I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to.’
Wilburn responds: ‘But you just said you don’t like people like me?’
Dudek denies that assertion, saying ‘I’m trying to do the best I can, you already got $15 off of these products and you’re trying to play games.
‘We’re done – I’m giving you my boss’s number. She can fix it from here, okay? I’m really done with you. I’m tired of the attitude and tired of the nonsense.’
Wilburn agrees to call the boss but continues pushing Dudek, saying: ‘I will deal with her but you said you don’t like people like me, meaning a couponer?’
‘That’s not what I said,’ he replies.
Dudek reportedly told Wilburn the coupons were for the wrong items, and became increasingly hostile as she tried to explain, telling her to ‘shut up’ right before the video starts
It takes nearly two minutes for Dudek to notice that he is being filmed, at which point he says: ‘You don’t have my permission to record me’ and tells another employee to call the police
Nearly two minutes into the video, Dudek realizes he is being filmed and says: ‘No, you don’t have my permission to record me. You can’t record me.’
He then gets on the phone with someone named Felicia, saying: ‘I have a customer who is being difficult and taping us without permission.
‘And I’d like you to dispatch the police if possible. Black female, green shirt, blue shirt.’
He then hands her a piece of paper with the name: ‘Ken Dudek.’
Wilburn met responding officers outside the store, who declined to file and charges and gave her permission to leave.
Under New York law it is legal to record someone inside retail spaces.
Wilburn said the officers seemed irritated to have been called to the ‘non-issue’, and urged her to call the company’s corporate offices.
She posted the video to social media that afternoon and it quickly went viral.
Wilburn later shared a screenshot of what appears to be a private Facebook message from Dudek, telling her he would contact his attorney if she didn’t remove the video.
Wilburn posted the video to Facebook later that day and it quickly went viral, causing Dudek to reach out to her in a private message and demand that she remove the post
Dudek shared photos of the coupons she had been trying to use when the manager denied her
The mother-of-four who has recently voted Teacher of the Month expressed shock at the entire experience to Yahoo Lifestyle.
‘What the video didn’t capture was this man telling me to “Shut up” and “I hate people like you”.’ Did he mean women? Black women? People who coupon?’ she said.
‘It’s embarrassing, people are looking at you as if you’re scheming, like you’re some type of thief or something.’
Dollar General representatives have declined to comment on the specific interaction at the Buffalo store, but said customers are encouraged ‘to utilize both digital and manufacturer coupons to help them save money’.
‘Additionally, we always strive to deliver the best possible customer service and we are disappointed when this does not occur.
‘We take matters like this very seriously and are fully investigating the incident,’ spokesperson Crystal Ghassemi said.
Wilburn, a history and special education teacher, said: ‘It’s embarrassing, people are looking at you as if you’re scheming, like you’re some type of thief or something’
A similar incident was reported on July 14 at a CVS in Chicago, where a white manager called the police on black customer Camilla Hudson, 53, because he didn’t recognize the coupon she was attempting to use.
The ordeal went viral on social media as the offending manager, Morry Matson, was dubbed ‘Coupon Carl’.
The drug store later issued an apology to Hudson and confirmed that Matson and another manager involved in the incident had been fired.
While Dudek hasn’t yet been given a nickname, he joins the ranks of Coupon Carl, Barbecue Becky, Permit Patty, Permit Betty and Pool Patrol Paula, all of whom have been caught on camera reporting seemingly innocuous behavior by African-Americans or other minorities to police.
Barbecue Becky made headlines in May for calling the cops on two Black men who were grilling in an Oakland park.
Shortly after came Permit Patty who called the cops on an eight-year-old girl who was selling bottles without a permit.
Then came Pool Patrol Paula who was arrested after she assaulted a 15-year-old black teen at a South Carolina pool.
Most recently, Permit Betty made headlines after she called authorities on a vendor. Permit Betty had questioned whether or not the vendor had a seller’s license.