Dunkin’ Donuts has fired the employees involved in a viral video that shows one worker dumping a pitcher of water on a homeless man while another person laughs.
The video posted Sunday night shows the man, identified as Jeremy Dufresne by The Post-Standard , sitting at a table with his head down. One employee says something about Dufresne sleeping, then dumps the water on him.
"How many times I've got to tell you to stop sleeping in here," he said, while another person laughs. “You’re here all day.”
As Dufresne gathers his wet phone and charger, he mumbles that it was an accident. The employee tells Dufresne that he’s not going to call the cops on him, but wants him to leave.
The Post-Standard reports that Dufresne suffers from schizophrenia and was inside the Dunkin' Donuts to charge his phone to call his mother to say goodnight.
The video, which has racked up more than 1 million views on Facebook, attracted the attention of homeless advocate Al-amin Muhammad. He visited the store Monday, asking employees about the incident and threatening a boycott if the situation was not addressed.
Muhammad said he felt the staff brushed off his concerns; he organized a demonstration in front of the Dunkin’ Donuts later that day.
“My message was to them that nobody deserves to be treated like this because I was treated like this when I was homeless,” he said.
Muhammad said he suffered from chronic homelessness for about 10 years and when he got his life back on track, he dedicated himself to helping others like him. He hosts programs for the homeless in Syracuse through which he said he has known Dufresne for about a year. He said watching the video of Dufresne reminded him of an encounter he had while he was homeless.
“Somebody threw a beer at me and hit me across my face,” he said. “The look I’ve seen in Jeremy’s face was the same look I had when I got embarrassed. That’s why I went out there to advocate for Jeremy.”
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Muhammad said Dufresne was traumatized by the experience, but is excited about the support he’s gotten. The GoFundMe started for Dufresne has raised more than $3,500.
The employees involved in the incident have been terminated and the company plans to apologize to Dufresne, according to a statement from Kimberly Wolak, Dunkin’ franchisee and chief operating officer of The Wolak Group. The statement did not say how many employees were fired.
“We were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video,” Wolak said in the statement. “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.”
Wolak added that the company plans to work with local advocates to better educate employees on interacting with the homeless.
Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg
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