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Dunkin Donuts Fires Worker Who Poured Water On Homeless Man
He probably had some personal problems of his own and needed someone to talk to, victim Jeremy Dufresne said of the Syracuse, New York, shops employee.
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By David Moye
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dunkin-donuts-jeremy-dufresne_us_5bb3f70de4b0876eda995235
Two employees at a Dunkin Donuts franchise in Syracuse, New York, have been fired after a viral video showed one of them pouring water on a homeless man.
Jeremy Dufresne was at the restaurant Sunday night when an unnamed employee came up from behind and dumped water on him, according to the New York Daily News.
How many times Ive got to tell you to stop sleeping in here? the employee tells Dufresne in the video. Youre here all day.
Both employees can be heard laughing in the video, which was posted on Facebook and has been viewed more than 3 million times.
Dufresne, who is schizophrenic and sleeps outside most nights, told Syracuse.com he was charging his phone at the Dunkin so he could call his mom to tell her goodnight.
At some point, he put his head down, and thats when the employee dumped the water on him.
He probably had some personal problems of his own and needed someone to talk to, Dufresne said of the worker. And he took it out on someone else, like me.
After the video went viral, two dozen protesters gathered outside the doughnut shop on Monday and held up signs reading Homeless lives matter and Homeless are human, according to Syracuse.com.
Dunkin franchisee Kimberly Wolak issued a statement condemning the employees who did it:
Dunkin has been a part of the Syracuse community for many years, and as the franchisees who own and operate the North Salina Street location, we were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video.
It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization―which include creating a welcoming and hospitable environment and treating everyone with dignity and respect. The employees involved in the incident have been terminated, and we will be contacting the individual in the video to apologize for the negative experience.
We also intend to work with local advocates to make sure that our employees are better educated as to how to engage with homeless individuals and where to direct them in the community for appropriate assistance.
In addition, owners are hoping to make amends to the areas homeless population by serving lunch to them on Saturday, according to Syracuse.com.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told Syracuse.com his office is considering charging the now-former employees with harassment, which carries about the same fine as a speeding ticket.
HuffPost reached out to Dunkin corporate offices, which did not immediately respond.
A GoFundMe campaign organized on behalf of Dufresne has raised nearly $15,000.
I might have to go out and eat a Duncan donut, something I haven't done in years.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,902 posts)and noticed a particular car that did not seem to have been moved in at least 24 hours. So I spoke to the security guard about it and she told me that it belonged to a man she thought was homeless, because he was there almost every single day, just hanging out.
That's how you should treat someone who is homeless: with dignity and respect.
I am so glad those employees were fired.
SunSeeker
(51,728 posts)Homeless and bipolar, yet he still had empathy for his tormentors.
Glad he is getting $15k.
lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)https://www.gofundme.com/man-sleeping-at-syracuse-dunkin
He could probably use more than was requested.