Dunkin' Employees Fired After Pouring a Bucket of Water on Homeless Man

Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty

Dunkin’ (formerly known asDunkin’ Donuts) is taking action after avideo of an employee pouring water on a homeless maninside a Syracuse, N.Y. location was posted to Facebook. The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times.

The COO of the group which owns and operates the Dunkin’ location, Kimberly Wolak,toldUSA Todaythat they fired workers involved in the video, which shows Jeremy Dufresne resting his head on a table inside the store on Sunday night before he was covered in water. An employee can be heard scolding Dufresne for sleeping in the establishment while another person laughs. Dufresne responds that it was “an accident.”

Dufresne, who reportedly suffers from schizophrenia,told Syracuse.comthat he was charging his phone at the time so he could call his mother like he does every night.

“He probably had some personal problems of his own and needed someone to talk to,” Dufresne said of the Dunkin’ employee. “And he took it out on someone else, like me.”

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The outlet also spoke with Dufresne’s mother and aunt, who despite their efforts to have Dufresne stay with them, say he prefers to live on the streets because he likes being alone. “The only time I talk to people is when I talk to my family,” he added to Syracuse.com.

Samuel Breazeale, who first posted the video on Facebook, started aGo Fund Me campaignto raise money for Dufresne. More than $12,000 has been raised so far and Breazeale wrote on Facebook that he has been in touch with Dufresne’s family to ensure he receives the donations.

source: people.com