Walgreens Worker Refuses to Sell Condoms

A Minnesota man says his wife had a strange—and embarrassing—experience at a Walgreens earlier this month when she tried to buy condoms because she had left her birth control pills at home. Nathan Pentz tweeted that when his wife, Jess, was at the checkout of the Hayward store, the cashier informed her that he couldn't sell her condoms because of his faith, NBC reports. The cashier "proceeded to embarrass me in front of other customers because of my reproductive choices," the couple said in a customer service complaint to the chain.

Walgreens acknowledged that the incident occurred but said the employee did not violate company policy. "Our policies are designed to ensure we meet the needs of our patients and customers while respecting the religious and moral beliefs of our team members," a spokesperson said. In "rare" instances "when a team member has a moral or religious conviction about completing a transaction, they are required to refer the customer to another employee or manager on duty who will complete the transaction, which is what occurred in this instance," the spokesperson said.

Other Walgreens customers have reported similar issues, including TikTok user Abigail Martin, who said in a recent video that a worker wearing two crosses told her she couldn't refill her birth control prescription, USA Today reports. She says that when she called Walgreens, a reprentative told her, "I know exactly who you’re talking about and we’ve been having this problem for the last two weeks." After her story went viral, there were calls to boycott Walgreens. Pentz, meanwhile, has decided to get a vasectomy, the State reports. (More birth control stories.)