A local mother is speaking out after her daughter was publicly shamed for her weight by an adult male employee at Dunkin Donuts on Forty Foot Road last week.
Angela Kwortnick, of Hatfield Township, said that her daughter—a Pennfield Middle School student—went to the business with her friends after choir practice on Dec. 10. Kwortnick stated that the kids usually go there after practice, and the employees are typically friendly and give out freebies.
This visit was different, however.
“One of the moms picked up the girls from choir practice, and took them over to Dunkin Donuts to get treats,” said Kwortnick. “The three girls were standing there and an employee brought over a free drink and asked which of the girls wanted it. My daughter put up her hand and said she would take it, and the employee replied ‘No. Not for the fattie. For the skinny one.”
The daughter then returned home in tears, and told her mother what had happened. At that point, Kwortnick went back to Dunkin Donuts with daughter in tow, in order to confront the staff.
“I confronted him and had my daughter record it, just to be sure,” said Kwortnick. “[The employee] did apologize, but it was very insincere. He was giggling about it and laughing, saying it was only joke. To have an adult, a stranger call you that…it’s so demeaning.”
Soon after, Kwortnick posted the video of the confrontation to her Facebook page. In the video, which can be viewed below, Kwortnick can be seen confronting the employee, who indeed smiles and says he was kidding. The video has since been shared several hundred times, and has generated dozens of comments from people sharing in the outrage.
“I’ve received a lot of comments on the video,” said Kwortnick. “People are pretty angry about it, how wrong it is to humiliate and shame a young girl like that. I usually don’t make public posts, as I’m a very private person, but this was something that needed to be spoken about.”
In the aftermath of the incident, Kwortnick said that her daughter did not want to return to school, adding that she had previously been bullied due to her weight and was already emotionally overwhelmed due to the loss of her younger brother.
“She had an emotional meltdown at home, and the incident triggered a lot of things for her,” said Kwortnick. “Hearing that from an adult…it hit her hard.”
Kwortnick then took aim at Dunkin Donuts, hoping to reconcile the situation with an authentic apology, as well as disciplinary action for the employee.
“I want the company to apologize, and have the employee either relocated or dismissed,” said Kwortnick. “Maybe not lose his job, but they definitely need to receive some type of sensitivity training.”
At first, Kwortnick said she received the run-around from the local Dunkin Donuts and then from customer support. Calls to the Forty Foot Road location from North Penn Now also went unanswered.
But on Monday afternoon, the Dunkin Donuts Public Relations team responded to our request for comment, stating that the employee no longer works at the Hatfield location, and that all employees will now be required to complete sensitivity training.
The statement reads, in full:
“We are aware of the matter that took place at the Dunkin' restaurant located in Hatfield Township. Dunkin' and all of our franchisees share the goal of creating a welcoming environment in all Dunkin’ restaurants and treating all guests with dignity and respect. The type of behavior reported to us is inconsistent with the brand’s values. All Dunkin' restaurants are independently owned and operated by individual franchisees who are solely responsible for their employees and making their own business decisions. The franchisee informs us that the employee responsible for these comments apologized for his inappropriate behavior and no longer works at the location, and that all of his employees will be required to complete sensitivity training. The franchise owner has also reached out directly to the guest to resolve the matter.”
Kwortnick confirmed to North Penn Now on Monday afternoon that the franchise owner did in fact reach out to her, but they have been unable to link up via phone at this time.
In the interim, Kwortnick said she’s going to take her daughter to counseling, in the hopes of helping her to prepare and cope with similar situations should they arise in the future.
See also:
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