A Louisiana convenience store worker was fired after throwing water over a homeless woman during cold winter weather.
The 33-year-old woman, who has not been named by authorities, has also been issued a misdemeanour summons for simple battery, the Baton Rouge Police Department says.
The shocking incident took place outside Baton Rouge’s Triple S Food Mart during recent cold weather, reported WAFB.
“Move! Not telling y’all again. Move it!” the worker can be heard shouting in the video. “Clear the f*** out!”
An employee at the store told the news station that the woman was actually known for feeding the homeless in the area but grew angry when a group refused to leave the business when asked.
Store owner Abdul Muflahi, says he fired the employee for reacting in “the worst” way.
“When I got the news, I didn’t speak to the employee too much,” Mr Muflahi told KTAL. “All I told her was to leave the property because we do not handle situations like that.”
City officials say that the homeless woman has now been connected with the proper services.“An incident over the holiday weekend involving a person who appears to be homeless has caught the attention of our community,” said Baton Rouge mayor Sharon Weston Broome.
“This incident emphasizes the continued need for our outreach efforts.”
Twitter users were quick to condemn the incident.
“It’s too cold for all this, it ain’t even funny! Homeless people are HUMANS too…I hate BR sometimes … this so disgusting,” wrote one user.
And another person wrote: “Understand the frustration but this was beyond cruel.. to throw water on him or her knowing full well they don’t have a place to be warm is SICK.”
