Student says CVS worker wouldn’t let him use Puerto Rican ID to buy cold medicine

A student in Indiana says a CVS employee refused to accept his Puerto Rican ID when he tried to buy cold medicine.

Jose Guzman Payano, an engineering student at Purdue University, was trying to buy over-the-counter cold medicine at a CVS in West Lafayette when a cashier refused to sell it to him after he presented a Puerto Rican ID, WTHR reported. Payano says she told him that he needed a U.S.-issued license.

“She said I needed a visa,” Guzman Payano told the Journal and Courier. “I tried to explain that Puerto Rico was part of the United States. I didn’t need a visa or anything. She just said the same thing three times.”

Next, Guzman Payano says he showed the cashier his U.S. passport — which he says he carries around for this very reason — but to no avail, WRTV reported. He ultimately asked to speak to a manager who also invoked corporate policy, according to the Journal and Courier.

Guzman Payano filed a complaint with CVS but says it took the company nine days to respond, WTHR reported.

In a statement to WRTV, CVS said it’s investigating and retraining the employee on the company’s accepted forms of identification.

“We are committed to ensuring that every customer receives courteous, outstanding service in our stores and we apologize to the customer for his recent experience,” the statement said, according to the news outlet. “We are fully investigating this matter to learn more about what occurred and we are seeking to speak with the customer directly. While our employees must adhere to laws and regulation requiring identification for the purchase of certain over-the-counter medication, we do consider Puerto Rican driver’s licenses to be valid identification.”

In a post on Facebook, Arlene Burgos, Guzman Payano’s mother, said she was angry, outraged and disgusted by the incident.

“As a Puerto Rican, a United States citizen, a mother, a union member, a wife, and a human being, I will not let this stand!” she wrote. “I cannot let this stand! And with every fiber in my being I will fight the injustice that was done to my son. I will use every resource I can to get this story out and make this right!”

Guzman Payano says he was ultimately able to purchase cold medicine at another store, where a cashier checked his ID and completed the transaction without incident, according to the Journal and Courier.