Update 8:02 p.m. EDT Oct. 1: The employees involved in the incident have been fired, according to an updated statement from Kimberly Wolak, Dunkin' Franchisee and chief operating officer for the Syracuse store. "We we will be contacting the individual in the video to apologize for the negative experience," Wolak said. The homeless man was identified as Jeremy Dufresne, Syracuse.com reported.
Update 3:25 p.m. EDT Oct. 1: Officials at Dunkin' Donuts suspended employees at a Syracuse store Monday, a day after video went viral on social media showing a worker dumping water on a homeless man, the company said in a tweet.
“We were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video,” Kimberly Wolak, Dunkin’ Franchisee and chief operating officer for the Syracuse store, said in a statement. “It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization.”
Kimberly Wolak, Dunkin’ Franchisee and chief operating officer for the Syracuse store, said in a statement. Wolak said the employees were suspended “pending a complete investigation,” and that the company will better educate its employees on “how to engage with homeless individuals.”
Original report: An advocate for the homeless has threatened a boycott of a Dunkin' Donuts in Syracuse, New York, after a worker was caught on video pouring a pitcher of water on a man who sleeping in the store, Syracuse.com reported.
The video apparently was filmed Sunday night. In a mostly empty store, a man can be seen with his head down on the table while his phone is charging, Syracuse.com reported.
Then, the video appears to show a worker dumping a pitcher of water on the man, identified by WFRG as Jeremy Youngs, who scrambles to get to his feet. Two people can be heard laughing off-camera, according to the video.
"How many times I've got to tell you to stop sleeping in here, my (expletive)," the worker says in the video.
That incident prompted Al-amin Muhammad, who runs "We Rise Above the Streets," for to help the homeless in Syracuse, to visit the store and ask to speak with the manager. He taped the exchange, Syracuse.com reported.
Muhammad asks workers about the video "disrespecting one of my homeless friends."
A worker attempted to contact the store manager but was unable to do so.
Muhammad threatened a boycott of the store if he did not hear from management by noon Monday, Syracuse.com reported. He was talking to people about what occurred on Facebook Live Monday morning.
Samuel Breazeale has started a Go Fund Me campaign to raise enough money to buy Youngs dry clothes and a new phone charger, WFRG reported.
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