A woman has taken to TikTok to share an emotional video where she claims she was refused service at Dunkin' Donuts because she is deaf.
Shannon Heroux - who uses the handle @shannon_heroux on TikTok - broke down in tears in her car as she alleged that an employee at the chain refused to accommodate her needs.
Shannon, who lives in California, said in the video: "I didn’t know how to process it, I was confused. I couldn’t hear anything... I couldn’t hear. I wear a cochlear implant but I wasn’t wearing it at that time."
Watch the part one of Shannon's story here:Shannon claims that she asked the employee to take off their mask so she could read her lips to understand what they were saying. Per Hearing Link, deaf people often use lipreading to "better understand what we see and hear, enabling us to take a more active part in conversations."
When she explained this to the employee, and said that she would not be able to understand her, the woman reportedly "didn't take her mask off", and went to the manager.
"I could just tell by his [manager’s] body language, his face, he was going off," she continued. He then refused to pull his face mask down or write anything down.
"People don’t believe, I’m deaf and I could sense and feel from him [manager] that he couldn’t believe me, he didn’t believe I was deaf because I speak so well," Shannon claimed in the video, detailing that she was wearing a face mask, they were six feet apart, and that there was a dividing screen in the store.
And here is part 2:She then explained how the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenges that deaf people face — something that has left her at "breaking point"
"No deaf person should have to go through this," Shannon asserted. "I’ve been discriminated [against] this entire pandemic."
She concluded: "I want an apology. What that manager did was wrong."
In an update video, Shannon revealed that the general manager of the store had reached out to her and asked her to return in order to receive her apology face-to-face. However, Shannon adds that the gesture was not enough, and has reached out to corporate in order to continue spreading awareness.
In a statement to Yahoo Life, a Dunkin' Donuts representative said: "We take matters like this very seriously.
"At Dunkin’, we are committed to creating a welcoming environment and treating every guest with dignity and respect. We have contacted the guest to apologize, and we are actively working with her to resolve the matter."
A survey conducted by SignHealth in September of 2020 highlighted the ongoing issues faced by the deaf community during the pandemic.
Worryingly, 62% said that not being able to communicate with people wearing masks in public was a major challenge, and they are unable to lipread or use facial cues.
