Dunkin & # 39; Donuts fired employees involved in a now viral video in which an employee poured water on a homeless man.(Photo: Dunkin & # 39 ;.)

Dunkin 'Donuts fired the employees involved in a viral video of a worker throwing a pitcher of water at 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, head down. An employee says something about Dufresne sleeping, then throws water on him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop sleeping here," he says, while another person laughs. "You are here all day."

While Dufresne gathers his wet phone and charger, he mumbles that it was an accident. The employee tells Dufresne that he is not going to call the cops, but that he wants to leave.

The Post-Standard reports that Dufresne was suffering from schizophrenia and was inside Dunkin's Donuts to charge his phone to call his mother to say good night.

The video, which has been viewed more than a million times on Facebook, has drawn the attention of homeless advocate Al-Amin Muhammad. He went to the store on Monday, interviewing employees about the incident and threatening a boycott if the situation was not resolved.

Muhammad said that he had felt the staff erase his concerns; he organized a demonstration in front of the Dunkin 'Donuts later in the day.

"I told them that no one deserved to be treated like that, because I was treated like that when I was homeless," he said.

Muhammad said he was chronically homeless for about 10 years and when he took charge of his life, he dedicated himself to helping others like him. He runs programs for homeless people in Syracuse, through which he says he has known Dufresne for about a year. He said that watching Dufresne's video reminded him of a meeting he had while he was homeless.

"Someone threw a beer and hit me in the face," he said. "The look I saw on Jeremy's face was the same as when I was embarrassed. That's why I went to defend Jeremy's rights. "

More: Is roaming illegal? Ohio court decisions ask the question

More: A Spanish-speaking Taco Bell worker who refused to speak English lost her job

More: Dunkin 'officially drops the donuts of his name

Muhammad said Dufresne was traumatized by this experience, but was excited about the support he had received. The GoFundMe started for Dufresne raised more than $ 3,500.

The employees involved in the incident were fired and the company plans to apologize to Dufresne, according to a statement by Kimberly Wolak, Dunkin franchisee and chief operating officer of Wolak Group. The statement does not say how many employees were fired.

"We were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video," said Wolak in his release. "Not only has this violated our written policies, but it goes against our core values ​​as an organization, including creating a welcoming and hospitable environment and treating everyone with dignity. and respect. "

Wolak added that the company planned to work with local advocates to increase employee awareness of the interaction with homeless people.

Follow N & # 39; dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

Read or share this story: https://usat.ly/2O0sCv7