A California woman says she couldn’t get service at a Dunkin’ Donuts after the battery in her cochlear implant ran out. Shannon Heroux is deaf and her hearing aid died as soon as she entered the shop.
“I have never been refused service before and it hurts. It hurts really bad,” Heroux shared her emotions in a TikTok video.
Without the cochlear implant, Heroux couldn’t hear a thing, but she says the Encino Dunkin’ Donuts servers continued wearing their COVID-19 masks. She says they just wouldn’t take them off.
“I kept saying, ‘I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you. I’m deaf. I’m deaf. I can’t hear you,’” Heroux said.
Heroux also asked to write her order down, but she says they didn’t have a pen for her.
Heroux’s lawyer Paul Philips says the incident indicates “a massive lack of training.”
“No deaf person should have to go through this,” Heroux said in the TikTok.
A spokesperson for Dunkin’ Donuts said that it takes “matters like this very seriously,” adding that it is “committed to creating a welcoming environment and treating every guest with dignity and respect.”
The owner of the Dunkin’s Donuts franchise has since met with Heroux to personally apologize.