Two employees of a New York City apartment building have been fired after failing to act when an Asian American woman was violently assaulted.
Per the Independent, in CCTV footage of the unprovoked attack near Times Square on March 29, the doormen can be seen not taking any action until over a minute after the incident.
The upsetting surveillance video showed Vilma Kari, 65, being relentlessly kicked and stomped on while the men simply watched on from the lobby. In fact, one of the two men had even closed the door to the building as Kari remained on the ground moments after the awful ordeal.
As reported by the Independent, the building's management company, The Brodsky Organization, had decided to suspend the doormen amid an investigation into the incident, before making the decision to permanently dismiss them.
That investigation was over by Tuesday and the doormen were made aware of the decision to part ways, the company said.
"While the full lobby video shows that once the assailant had departed, the doormen emerged to assist the victim and flag down an NYPD vehicle, it is clear that required emergency and safety protocols were not followed," the company said in a statement.
According to the paper, the doormen's union, SEIU 32BJ has confirmed that the pair had been sacked.
Prior to the decision, the union had stated that the two employees were waiting for the assailant to leave the scene before checking on Kari and alerting a patrol car nearby. The union said their hesitancy to intervene right away was due to the fact that he may have had a knife.
The last part of the surveillance footage sees a police car arriving soon after the men go outside. The employees and cops are seen beside the victim for a little while before the video ends.
The suspect, Brandon Elliot, 38, was charged with assault and attempted assault as a hate crime. He had previously been found guilty of killing his mother nearly 20 years ago.
He is set to be arraigned on a felony indictment on April 21. His legal team are urging the public to "reserve judgment until all the facts are presented in court."
Kari sustained significant injuries following the attack including a fractured pelvis and spent a day in the hospital.
It is also believed that the victim was helped by an anonymous individual across the street who distracted the assailant by screaming. The attacker then left Kari to get to the person screaming.
