Two Dunkin’ Donuts workers were fired after a video was uploaded to social media showing them soaking a sleeping homeless man with a pitcher of water in Syracuse, New York, USA Today reported.
The video footage on Facebook shows the homeless man, identified as Jeremy Dufresne by WSYR NewsChannel 9, sitting at the table inside Dunkin’ Donuts with his head resting on his arms when one employee dumps water on him. His colleague can he heard laughing in the background.
“How many times do I gotta tell you to stop sleeping in here,” said the one employee as Dufresne gets up and gathers his belongings, according to WSYR.
The incident prompted homeless advocate Al-amin Muhammad to confront staff at the Dunkin’ Donuts branch, Syracuse.com reported.
He threatened to boycott the store if management failed to address the matter.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up to assist Dufresne, which raised over $5,500 in less than 24 hours.
According to the fundraising page, “all proceeds made are going to Jeremy and family to help him get on his feet so there will be no more nights at Dunkin Donuts.”
The donut chain has since responded to the incident in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
“We were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video,” said Kimberly Wolak, chief operating officer of Wolak Group, which owns about 85 Dunkin' Donuts stores. “It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization.”
Wolak said the company would be working with local advocates to educate employees on how to interact with the homeless, USA Today said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.