TikTok user @shannon_heroux posted emotional videos alleging Dunkin' employees refused her service because she's deaf.
The two-part video series shows @shannon_heroux sitting in her car crying as she explains how an employee and their manager were insensitive and ultimately refused her service when she tried to order a drink. Since posting two days ago, the first video amassed over 2.1 million views and 347,000 likes.
"I've never been refused service before. It hurts," she says in the video.
@shannon_heroux I was refused service at a Dunkin Donuts because I’m deaf. I want to spread awareness on how this is not okay. Part one of the video. ?
♬ original sound - Shannon Heroux
She says she visited a Dunkin' in Encino, California one afternoon, and the employee at the counter refused to take their mask off so she could lip read.
"I couldn't hear. I wear a cochlear implant but I wasn't wearing it at that time," she says.
She explained further, "I called this girl over, told her I was deaf, and had to read her lips."
After she repeatedly told the employee she couldn't understand them, the manager came over and allegedly refused to write anything down or pull his mask down to speak. The TikToker and the manager were apparently six feet apart and separated by Plexiglass. @shannon_heroux says she also kept her mask on.
"I could just tell by his body language and his face he was going off," she says. "I could tell he didn't believe I'm deaf."
Part two, posted immediately after part one, addresses how the pandemic has impacted her mental health as a deaf individual.
@shannon_heroux Discrimination Part 2 ? please watch Part 1 to get an understanding of what happened and help spread awareness for the deaf community. #pandemic
♬ original sound - Shannon Heroux
"I've been discriminated against this entire pandemic," she says.
Deaf individuals whose preferred or only method of communication is lip reading reported high instances of discrimination during the pandemic.
"You kick me out for ordering a peach passionfruit tea, really?"
She ends part two by demanding an apology from the manager who refused her service.
"I want an apology," she cries. "What that manager did was wrong."
The Daily Dot reached out to Dunkin' Donuts and @shannon_heroux for comment.
