A worker at an upstate New York Dunkin’ Donuts poured a pitcher of water on a customer sleeping inside the store — and then laughed at the soaking wet man as he gathered his belongings, video shows.
A 36-second clip posted late Sunday on Facebook shows the unidentified man being doused with a pitcher of water by a Dunkin’ Donuts employee who claimed to have warned the man repeatedly against sleeping in the Syracuse restaurant.
“You going to sleep?” the employee said before drenching the man. “How many times I got to tell you to stop sleeping in here, my n—a? You here all day, you have enough time [in here] … How many times have the customers and the people going to tell you to stop sleeping in here?”
The employee then told the man he soaked him on purpose, saying he preferred to handle the matter on his own.
“You know I’m not playing with you,” the worker said. “And I ain’t gonna call the cops on you like I said. You going to get out of here.”
The employee and a second man — not seen on the video — are then heard laughing loudly. The footage ends as the man begins gathering his soaked belongings, including a cellphone.
In a statement to The Post, the franchise owner of Dunkin’ Donuts said she was “extremely disturbed” by what she saw on the video, adding that two employees have since been suspended.
“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,” franchisee Kimberly Wolak said. “The employees involved in the incident have been suspended pending a complete investigation, and we will be contacting the individual in the video to apologize for the negative experience.”
The man seen on the video was identified on GoFundMe as Jeremy Youngs, but attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. A fundraiser set up to help him after the drenched encounter had already exceeded $600 by Monday afternoon.
A homeless advocate in Syracuse also visited the store after seeing the video and questioned why workers there disrespected one of his “homeless friends,” Syracuse.com reports.
“We know as much as you guys,” an employee told Al-amin Muhammad. “We don’t think it’s right at all.”
About 20 people gathered outside the Dunkin Donuts’ at North Salina and East Division streets early Monday in protest, WSYR reports. Some of them held signs that read, “Homeless Lives Matter” and “Homeless Are Human,” according to the station.