Labor coalition alleges discrimination at CVS

Chain denies claims that it doesn't serve minorities equally

A labor coalition released a report yesterday alleging discriminatory practices by CVS Caremark Corp. in how it chooses locations and what services it offers at stores in Boston and other major US cities.

The "Cure CVS" report, based on a yearlong investigation by the Change to Win labor coalition, found that the largest US pharmacy chain has nearly three times as many stores per person in ZIP codes with the highest populations of whites in Greater Boston compared with areas with larger minority populations.

The report also shows twice as many stores per person in areas of Boston where the median household income exceeded $40,000 than in less-affluent areas. And it criticized the chain, which is based in Woonsocket, R.I., for opening all of its nurse practitioner-staffed MinuteClinics in the suburbs.

Change to Win said it sent secret shoppers to CVS locations throughout the country between September 2007 and November 2008 to survey the quality of store access, products, and services. The coalition, which represents about 8,000 CVS workers, has clashed with CVS since 2007 over the voting process CVS workers use to elect whether to join a union.

"CVS needs to be unbiased in all its practices," said Faron McLurkin, the group's lead organizer in Boston.

CVS spokesman Michael DeAngelis said the claims are based on inaccurate or outdated information.

"CVS Caremark does not discriminate in our policies or store operations, or tolerate discrimination of any kind in our organization," he said. And when deciding where to locate stores, he said: "We don't look at demographics, and we don't look at income. We look at population density, and we look for real estate sites that are convenient and accessible for consumers."

CVS has opened MinuteClinics, advertised as offering convenient medical treatment for customers' minor ailments, only in Boston suburbs such as Beverly, Braintree, Tewksbury, and Westford, DeAngelis said. But he said CVS hasn't applied for licenses for Boston clinics because the mayor doesn't allow them.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Public Health Commission are concerned Bostonians who'd turn to MinuteClinics would miss the opportunity to treat other health issues a hospital or one of the city's 26 community health centers would catch, said Dr. Anita Barry, director of the commission's Bureau of Infectious Diseases.

"People need more than an isolated service when it comes to their health," she said.

The coalition report also alleges CVS keeps baby formula and frequently stolen products in locked cabinets in stores in minority-dominated neighborhoods like Dorchester, while leaving them on open shelves in other neighborhoods. To that, DeAngelis said antitheft measures are decided by district managers in response to shoplifting rates.

The reaction to the report - and the response by CVS - was mixed among retail analysts, advocacy groups, and customers.

George Whalin, chief executive of the Carlsbad, Calif.-based Retail Management Consultants, said while he doesn't know how CVS chooses locations, he believes it's "nonsense" that the chain ignores demographics when making such decisions. The most important criteria for any retailer to consider when picking a location, he said, is real estate, then demographics, followed by costs and competition.

"You want to have enough people, and you want to have the right kind of customers who can afford to do business with you," Whalin said.

Russ Davis, executive director of Jobs with Justice, believes the report's findings. He said monitoring inventory in high-crime neighborhoods more tightly and operating more stores in neighborhoods where people spend more may make "sense from a business point of view, but it doesn't make sense from a moral point of view."

Sandra Peralta, a financial services recruiter, said she's been pleased with her CVS experiences, even through she's required to ask a cashier to get baby formula from a locked cabinet at the store by her home in Lynn, which has a large Hispanic population.

"It doesn't bother me," said Peralta, 28. "It's more work on their part, and I don't have to go get it and lug it."

Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.