Pharmacy Cashier Refused to Sell Condoms to a Minnesota Couple

A Minnesota couple is making national news because a pharmacy cashier recently refused to ring up their birth control purchase.

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Nobody likes to be embarrassed, especially when they're purchasing some... uh... personal items, right? But that's what happened to a Minnesota couple recently when they went to a pharmacy in northwest Wisconsin and a cashier said he couldn't ring up their entire sale.

The story of Nate Pentz, a Twin Cities realtor, and his wife, Jess, has been making national news for the kerfuffle that ensued over the 4th of July weekend when they tried to buy condoms at a Walgreens in Wisconsin.

According to this story from The Chronotype in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Nate and his wife were spending the holiday at their new cabin near Hayward, Wisconsin when they noticed they'd left Jess's birth control meds back at their home in Minnesota.

So they went to a nearby Walgreens and were going to purchase a box of condoms along with a few other items. When Jess got to the checkout, though, she was told by the cashier that he couldn't ring up the condoms because of 'his faith.' The back-and-forth between Jess and the cashier continued, causing Jess to be quite embarrassed, apparently since there were several other men in line behind her.

Ultimately, a manager was summoned who rang up their entire sale, but the couple ended up filing an online complaint with Walgreens over the incident. "The cashier "refused to sell me condoms because of his 'faith.' He proceeded to embarrass me in front of other customers for my reproductive choices," the complaint notes, as Nate posted on his Twitter page.

And their story making headlines across the country. (You can check out the national Newsweek story HERE). Ultimately, Walgreens responded to their complaint and the matter is now apparently settled. But Nate said he's hoping the pharmacy chain makes some changes after their incident:

"If a store has an employee who has religious convictions that make it difficult for him to do his job then the store should have a protocol of calling up another to ring up the sale without making a scene," the Chronotype story noted.

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