** CLARIFICATION: NCTV17 reached out to the floral manager and at the time of this report had not received a response.
This afternoon a group of around 20 gathered for a protest on the sidewalk in front of Jewel-Osco on 95th Street and Route 59.
Denise Dawidowski
Incident on Mother’s Day
Naperville resident Denise Dawidowski said she was with her 19-year-old daughter on Mother’s Day at this location and as she was arranging flowers from two bouquets a floral manager came up to her and asked what she was doing.
As the situation escalated, Dawidowski began to record the manager. Dawidowski then posted two videos on her Facebook page.
After the incident, Dawidowski said she called both the 95th Street location and Jewel-Osco corporate office and was told the manager was still working at the location, prompting her to organize the protest.
Protest at Jewel-Osco
“What action are they taking? Because I would think the action would be grounds for termination. You do not touch someone in a pandemic. You don’t touch someone without permission. And you’re an employee doing this to a customer. Not OK,” said Dawidowski. “I hope Jewel-Osco will train their employees, especially higher up management on how to handle situations such as this especially because I feel like it was handled inappropriately.”
The group held signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Stop Racial Profiling Jewel-Osco.” They also chanted “Protest Jewel-Osco.”
“If the police had been called, I don’t know how that would have turned out. Me being a black woman and the floral manager being a white woman,” said Dawidowski. “And this happened on Mother’s Day, May 10. And it was hurtful. It actually ruined my Mother’s Day because I just couldn’t get past how I was treated and then the fact that it wasn’t taken seriously by a company.”
NCTV17 reached out to Jewel-Osco corporation for comment but did not receive a response.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
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