Guy Can’t Stand Throwing Away So Many Donuts At His Job, Ends Up Giving Them To The Homeless, Gets Fired
Interview
Something that’s stuck with me from my childhood (and I’m pretty sure it’ll stay with me forever) is just how much food waste scares me. It’s unreal. I can’t stand throwing food away—it makes me sad and ashamed because someone somewhere is starving right now while here I am, filling up my garbage can.
But no matter how wastefully a person might live, it’s nothing compared to the amount of serviceable food thrown out every single day by restaurants, businesses, and fast-food franchises. Case in point—Dunkin’ Donuts (now former) employee Bryan Johnston was horrified that he had to keep dumping several hundred donuts into the bin every single night. So he decided to donate the food to the homeless instead. Bryan uploaded a TikTok video of himself doing just that and even though people loved it, the 16-year-old lost his job for breaking protocol. But there’s always a silver lining… and Bryan’s the guy who can always find it.
Bryan told Bored Panda that he was really surprised when he found out he was fired. “It’s still very hard to look back to when I replay the whole situation in my head. It felt as though my manager didn’t care that I worked there for 5 months and she didn’t say anything like ‘sad to see you go’ or ‘thanks for being a part of the team.'” Read on for our full interview with him.
A small heads-up, dear Pandas. Keep in mind that every owner of a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise personally decides whether or not to donate food at the end of the day. The company itself has created a support structure for those who choose to donate.
More info: TikTok | Instagram | YouTube
16-year-old Bryan Johnston’s donut-saga went viral on TikTok. The teenager detailed how he got fired from Dunkin’ Donuts because he gave donuts to the homeless instead of throwing them out
Image credits: bryanjohnston
He was literally tasked with throwing out hundreds of perfectly edible donuts each and every night
@bryanjohnston_every night … 312 donuts + munchkins 😢@dunkin♬ In This House – Marcus Vinicius Alfaro Nascimento
@bryanjohnston_My closing routine at Dunkin :) #fyp #dunkin #GroupChat #loop♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre
Bryan’s a stoic guy. Even though it was tough getting fired, he’s been getting a lot of support from people and he’s very grateful to all of them for reaching out with kind words. “People also have been helping me financially until I find a stable source of income which I am beyond blessed for.”
In Bryan’s opinion, some franchises don’t help feed the homeless because they’re “greedy and lazy” to go the extra mile for the local community. “They would rather just throw away the food at the end of the day instead of paying an employee a couple more man-hours to bring the food to a donation center. Even though it’s up to the store what to do with the waste, most store managers instruct us to throw out the food because they haven’t set up a program to donate. And that roots back to the company itself and not having proper procedures set up in place for the food waste which I find extremely disappointing.”
He also went into detail with Bored Panda about his future plans. In short, we can expect great things from him. “I plan on using my voice to bring light to the issue of how much food waste goes on throughout America each day and how true a problem famine and world hunger is. If companies like Dunkin’ decided to someone reduce the food waste and/or donate the food to the hungry, issues like that would not be as huge of a problem. I still would want to grow on TikTok making positive videos as well as comedy/lifestyle content, but I am hoping to get a lot of people on board with me on how big an issue is that is overseen by so many.”
Bryan also hopes to partner up with bigger corporations like Feeding America in the future and he’d love to volunteer. “But right now I’m still kinda shaken by the fact so many people on the internet support me and what I am doing/going to do. It gives me the motivation to continue to be a light in such difficult times in the world.”
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Fed up with having to waste good food, Bryan decided to pack up the donuts and hand them out to the homeless
@bryanjohnston_Reply to @cole_598 Let’s make 2021 a year of supporting our community ❤️ Tag a friend in the comments to spread the positivity :) #fyp #Wee♬ Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Bryan also handed out food to firefighters, as well as the needy. He claims that this is why he got fired from his job at Dunkin’ Donuts
@bryanjohnston_Reply to @meza_melissa_ If u want to support me, links are in bio. I wanted the truth about Dunkin shared, it costed my job :( wont stop making vids❤️♬ Worship Instrumental – Instrumental – Adrian Jonathan
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: bryanjohnston
Image credits: ItsTerrax3
Even though Bryan got fired because he handed out donuts to the homeless instead of throwing them away, there’s an upside to all of this. He got a lot of support from everyone online and some people even donated him some money to help keep him afloat.
However, true to his mission of being a Based and Charitable Lad, Bryan decided to use the money to buy donuts (Krispy Kreme, not Dunkin’) for hospital staff. Of course, the teenager uploaded a video of himself handing out the bags to healthcare workers and–oh, God, he’s just an all-round decent human being in a messed up corporate world, isn’t he?
Now, who’s up for donuts and volunteering?
Keep in mind that Dunkin’ Donuts encourages its franchises to support their local communities. However, it’s up to each individual franchise owner if they want to donate leftover food or not
Image credits: ItsTerrax3
Image credits: itsdivyag
Image credits: itsdivyag
Bryan had a wholesome update for us. Loads of people supported him financially, so he dabbed on Dunkin’ by getting Krispy Kreme donuts for healthcare workers
@bryanjohnston_Reply to @daddy.hisokas.towel Thanks for sending support :) Comment what I should do next! #GEICOLipSync #foryoupage♬ Stuck in the Middle – Tai Verdes
Here’s how people reacted to the donut-saga. Some even shared their own experiences with having to throw out food at work
Image credits: AdayAve
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Image credits: OBEY_elREY
Image credits: _toumaras_
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if instead of filming and publishing on tiktok, just give the food to the homeless without making a noise, maybe he hadn't been fired and could still donate the food to the homeless. charity or good deeds do not need to be recorded or shared for likes/ views...
He might argue he was trying to raise awareness of the issue but I do agree, charity shouldn't require recognition or fame. In any case, the punishment here certainly didn't fit the crime.
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I used to do this at a French Bakery in Seattle. When the sandwiches were tallied up at the end of the day to be thrown out, I'd bag them up and hand them out to the homeless people on my way home. The owner was completely fine with it. When it came around to Christmas time, he also gave me all the cookies and pastries that would go stale from the shop being closed for 2 days. The homeless guys were so grateful.
France passed laws recently so that no grocery or food items can be thrown away; they MUST be distributed. It can be done. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/24/586579455/french-food-waste-law-changing-how-grocery-stores-approach-excess-food
Yes, i know that in some countries markets will put the vegetables and fruits that were not sold during the day in a special place for other to take. People who could not afford it mainly. So it would not be wasted.
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Probably got fired for violating the company’s social media policy, not for the act itself. Just do the good deed without the camera.
No, the food-wasting practice must be exposed. That is much more important than the charity thing.
Load More Replies... You cannot simply give food away for free for legal reasons typically. Why not work with a charity, such as a Food bank, to have a proper way of distributing to those in need? And what really infuriates me: food waste in landfills creates enormous amount of gases that are bad for the climate. Business should be required to dispose food waste through proper sites, for example for using it in fermentation plant that will create energy and soil.
I worked at a Dunkin' Donuts as my first job back in the day. One of the first things I asked was "why don't we give all this food away instead of tossing it?" At the time, there were two reasons given to me: (1) there is liability associated with food. If someone gets sick, it's your fault. What if an employee swore they were going to run it straight to a shelter but instead they stopped somewhere along the way and it's a super hot day? Or if they just forgot for a couple of days and didn't realize mold had started to grow? which leads to... (2) cost. To do it properly and safely, they would have to pay someone to deliver the leftover food in an approved food transportation vehicle to a homeless shelter, which likely wouldn't be next door. They also would have to pay for all of the containers to transport the food as well as the labor to pack it all up. I absolutely hated throwing it all out, but I saw their point, too.
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I live in the UK and there's an app called 'Too Good To Go' which connects you with restaurant/stores that haven't sold their stock that day so you can get food that was about to be thrown out for a fraction of the price. Win win as restaurants get a bit of money for the stuff they would otherwise dispose of and the benefit for customers is a bit obvious.
We have it in Belgium too. Looks like they still have growth potential..
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Defense Attorney here. Sadly, the rationale of not wanting to be sued is true. It's not worth the risk. Even if you work with a fool bank, you can still be liable even if the fool bank stored it improperly.. It's a sad thing, but unfortunately that is the reality. Insurance companies will typically require it because they don't want to incur the legal fees or there is a disclaimer for it. You can thank your local plaintiff's attorney on tv for this.
I just noticed the hilarious typo "fool bank". Oops. (No offence)
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This comment is going to get down voted, but here it goes. In the "Person who ruined for everyone category," there was a Tim Hortons that used to give away its left over food to the nearby homeless shelter without corporates knowledge. One day corporate came in and said for now on, all food needed to be thrown away, much to the frustration of the employees. One of the employees ran into a homeless when he was chucking all of the perfectly good food away and lamented to him about the waste of it all. The homeless guy informed him that one of the other homeless people tried to sue Tom Hortons over "chocking" on donut. I think these multi-billionaire dollar companies should make official arrangements with local charities to donate their unused food, but some random worker giving away all of the unused food without corporates permission and procedures, opens up the company to liability.
There are unfortunately so many liability issues surrounding donating good. I volunteered at a soup kitchen and a man came in one day and asked if we could package up a meal for his girlfriend who was unwell and unable to come herself. We were able to give him a few buns and some fruit and some packaged items, but anything else had to be eaten there. The health department had very stringent rules about this and we couldn't risk being shut down. It's so unfortunate, but sadly lawyers are always buzzing around waiting for someone to claim distress caused by someone else, whether it's true or not.
Back in the 90s, it was considered a liability issue to give out leftover food in the US. We lived by the credo "no good deed goes unpunished" instead of risking helping people. Over the years, more and more restaurant brands have come around to providing leftover food to organizations that serve the needy or have established their own and I'm pretty happy about that change of perspective. More needs to be done, but we're heading in the right direction.
I find this ironic . People are complaining about them not donating food . They aren't donating food due to liability issues ... caused by people being so litigious . Society will only change when we stop morally weighing in online while usually doing nothing. It's easy to judge from a computer screen. Social media "let's point the finger , or let's scorn " this person for whatever the issue of the day is. Close mouths , open hearts and minds . We need to heal as a society . United not divided
Good god there are no damn liability issues, you can't sue the company because you got food from a food bank. Damn the ignorance in these comments.
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Really high end designer brands will literally incinerate the clothes that didn't sell for the season. They refuse to see their brand end up on clearance racks or discount stores because they want to keep their brand exclusive and in demand.
Donuts are nothing compared to the food hotels and resorts throw out. Literally watched a hotel trash 100s of filet mignon because it was "extra".
I glad that people like him do stuff like this, he shouldn’t have been fired
For every ridiculous rule or law, there is at least one lawsuit behind it. People suck, and there will always be those who are in search of a way to never have to work another day in their lives. Even if they need frivolous lawsuits to do it. We've all seen it.
Years ago, a DD in my neighborhood decided to do the same thing and got sued because one of the homeless people claimed to have gotten sick from the donuts. They stopped it immediately and many other DDs followed suit. Sadly, these things happen more than you think and the risk is bigger than the good deed.
I don't support wasting food. However employees can't just decide on their own what to do with the products that are not theirs. They are the company's belongings, and the company decides where they will go, even to the garbage dump. This employee was donating someone else's assets to charity, pretty sure it counted as stealing.
Oh BOO HOO, poor gigantic corporations, how mistreated they are. Good lord you're brainwashed.
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I worked in a Tim Hortons in Canada on the night shiff too, and i did the exact same thing : throwing away all the donuts and stuff when they were still good to eat, every night.
Here's the take of someone I know who's been a manager of a fast food chain. The leftover food? They didn't give them out directly but the homeless can dig. The reason there is, if they give the food to homeless and lets say the homeless got sick or vomit or create any unpleasant reaction or they simply do that to create a commotion, the company will suffer more by paying them compensation. Once you give them food directly,they can actually point you as the person who gives food that causes them pain and can claim that the food poisoned them. In return, the company will pay.
There👏 Are👏 People👏 In Africa who are STARVING and we throw away 300 donuts... America get with it
Yes, I learned long ago that this is standard procedure for restaurants and grocery stores in the United States. How altruistic a country the US is, eh? Ya know, these disgusting companies could even use food donations as a tax write-off and gain millions of dollars from doing so, but nope, it's just not worth the effort. Interesting commentary on morality, I think.
My mother has volunteered in several food pantries and soup kitchens for many years. Some supermarkets are extremely generous with the food and supplies they donate. Others, not so much. Feel free to shame the lazy franchisees who "can't be bothered" to help out the less fortunate in their communities.
Exactly, they donate properly and with no liability problems. Something apparently a buncha people in this thread think doesn't happen.
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...or how about just lowering prices or having better deals as well. NOPE...NEVER ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY....IT GETS WRITTEN OFF in the Five million page TAX CODE
In the USA there are literally laws protecting food donations as long as it's reasonable to expect the food is still edible. The liability excuse is 100% horse s**t.
Liable is legit f*****g retarded and such flagrant bullshit. 1 day old food wont hurt no one 2 its f****d up but the homeless can't sue and neither can food shelters
It's not even day old. Come in 5 minutes before closing you get the same donuts as a customer. Do people think they magically become inedible 5 minutes after closing?
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I think it's shameful, especially now that so many people are going hungry.
I was arrested for this in 2014. I worked at a coffee shop and would take the pastries that were supposed to go in the garbage and bought a 2 gallon thermos (of my own money, of which I did not have much at the time) and would hand out pastries and coffe at a park where many homeless ppl stayed. I was arrested for selling food without a license and although all charges were dropped, it almost got me kicked out of college, and because I was fighting this my grades tanked making my gpa pitiful, thus not allowing me to do an internship, thus not allowing me to find a great job in chemical engineering or go to grad school.. all because one cop hated homeless people.
Dunkin is a great company though and it does look like that was the manager of that store who did that
I have given food out to homeless in various capacities and never posted it to social media. This guy wanted to show how such " a great person" he is by filming this and posting it. Just do nice things for people and don't post them on TikTok.
He also wanted to tell people what goes on in these stores every day. He must have known he was risking his job by filming and posting.
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Its a complete bullshit to say donut can make you sick because it has been sitting for a long time at the shelf. I often eat more than 12 hrs old donut (buy in the afternoon, ate..and eat the rest in the morning) and never get single stomach ache ever. The worst things can happen is the donut become a bit hardened
Its about liability. The restaurant is only willing to accept liability for harm which comes to a customer from products which are 8 hours old. Any older and the risk is deemed unacceptable and the merchandise is disposed of. The same goes for 'expiration dates' on products, they are merely the date and time at which the manufacturer is no longer liable for them. I certainly don't agree with the practice, but I understand why it exists.
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this is a bit extreme... they shouldnt have to throw away so many donuts. he shouldnt have been fired for that
DD is run by many very young people. So the corporates and the management has tried to eliminate any possibility of lawsuits. Teeth braking and illness. However when u buy the donut , you chose that donut . When u get that one … from being delivered… the worker became responsible for something . And the problem is Dunkn doesn’t want to insure the worker past the register. Also when u order something it’s different…. You can’t say anything about an allergy! Allergies are real. And not everyone knows what’s in the bag when it’s being donated . When u order it; it now makes that person who ordered their food responsible for their own actions and bodily functions. Signs are posted about ingredients at the store. AT THE STORE.
it's a LIE about them being liable if someone gets sick. it's covered under the good Samaritan act. they just don't want to "lose profit" by donating stuff. it's greed plain and simple
I used to work at a grocerry store and at night when the hot case in the deli was closed the workers used to let us take the left overs home... it usually not a ton but it would mean a couple of meals and for college kids it was helpful. the big boss found out and made them start dumping it in the trash. They would still give us smaller containers of food when they could though.
So did he give the donuts away because he wanted to feed the homeless or because he was hoping to add more followers? His motives are very dubious.
I was told the same thing at a Wawa in PA that stocked Dunkin... the guy would come in at like midnight, open the case and take any donuts that were left and shitcan them. I asked can I buy any of those? No... I'll give you a dime for each... NO! What happens to them. "We toss them in the trash" WTF? Why not at least give them to a shelter or whatever? No! We can't... If someone gets sick on one, we would be liable. Ummm... who's gonna get sick on a donut now that wouldn't have gotten sick on it an hour ago? We can't be held liable. So some blowhard lawyers with a lawsuit mind just so they can make millions prevents you from giving this away and showing what a wasteful society we have? Yeah, it's unfortunate but that's how it is. One guy gets sick or SAYS he got sick, hires these shysters and boom... that's F-ked up... Yeah, I know... No wonder other countries hate us... we're litigious, money hungry idiots that can't even help someone less fortunate without being sued by some shyster
A humane manager would have avoided troube by saying "Bryan, plese delete your posts and don't make new ones. Management wants you sacked. But you can keep on giving out the doughnuts so long as you keep it quiet. OK? A humane and intlligent manager would have done then and also kept track of which items produced excessive daily surpluses--and then made less of them.
I can't get over how much waste they make daily. If you are throwing away hundreds a day you are making too much! Are they hoping for some weird rush that never comes? Just optimistic?
We need to get our food waste laws changed in this country. Make it so that good samaritans cannot be sued.
It is debateable that Dunkin Donuts can be classed as food! Poor homeless people! :-)
Dunkin Donuts fired this guy because, while he has a good heart, his giving away food that, by law, cannot be sold the next day, placed the company in jeopardy of being sued - had any one of the homeless people that ate the food been given away, become sick with food poisoning, then they could have sued Dunkin Donuts (no good deed goes unpunished)... remember, here in the US, we live in a litigation society - where you can literally be sued for saving someone's life - so an act like this, where an employee gives away free food that is supposed to be disposed of, places the company at needless risk - and THAT's why this guy got fired.
It isn't "crony capitalism" that sucks, but rather the litigious society that we live in... where people refuse to take personal responsibility for their own actions, and where people believe that they are entitled to $100 million lifestyles because they were inconvenienced in some way... that's the same reason why medical insurance costs so much... the money that pays a "slip and fall" victim $100 million has to come from somewhere...
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Some 15 years ago, I used to work at the Hyatt. The amount of food thrown away was ridiculous.
Honestly I cant blame the companies here . Their reasoning is sound. My minimum wage employee defies company policy hands out food and someone claims ( true or not) it made them sick they can and in our litigous crazed society WILL sue the crap out of the company not the employee. They know if they want to make big bucks suing a 16 yo will do nothing, but suing a corporation with millions/billions in the bank is the fast track to easy street.
There are so many ways to donate food and not have liability it's not even funny. Look it up.
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Devil's Advocate: rather than being "uncaring," there may be a liability issue here. I say this as someone who had a 'grand' idea to donate bread from a local restaurant at the end of the night, and my church said they could get sued if someone got sick. Also, donuts aren't a good option, especially for someone who likely has a poor nutritional profile. He should work with a food bank or organization already doing this kind of work.
Well there's not when you donate through official proper channels. So that isn't an excuse. Period.
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The food restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries etc...are wasting is a disgrace. I'm sure the homeless would prefer taking the tiny risk of getting sick from it rather than refuse those leftovers (because apparently, it's a health and safety concern that businesses can't donate the food). And I'm sure some customers would be happy to pay less for those too. They had started the trend of selling cheap, ugly fruits and veg, it has stopped, why?
My wife worked for Harris Teeter supermarkets in North Carolina. Although some chains are generous about donating, these jokers were not. When the economy started to decline, their response to hungry people going through their dumpsters for food was to install padlocks on them.
Wait, this is in my hometown I believe. Let me go check his Tiktok out
I don't want to know how many food gets thrown away every day... really don't want to know. Imagine: the amount of food thrown away and then imagine: people dying at the SAME time while the food goes into the bin. Imagine this picture!
I feel like a couple of things need to be pointed out here about policies such as these - many places have rules saying that food can't be given away because it's a liability and could get the company sued if someone gets sick, and some places have policies like these because when allowed to take leftover food some people would purposely make too much so they could take it. Now admittedly the bakery I worked at had leftover food donated to the local food bank at the end of the day, but even that had restrictions such as they couldn't donate food marked vegan or vegetarian because there was no guarantee that they could be kept separate and so might not be vegan or vegetarian by the time they arrived at the food bank. Places do try, but there does need to be an understanding of rules and why they are there. Perhaps this is something that needs to be brought up verbally?
Perhaps it's something governments should actually care about and discuss, yeah. Of course, that would never happen.
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To the bubbalo comment. Why throw something away that doesn't expire?
It's awful that this kid was fired and that the company throws away so much food, but the reason any of this happens is due to the massive liability that the company has to hold by donating. If Americans weren't so obsessed with suing each other/big companies over everything then it wouldn't be an issue.
There is no liability in the USA for food donations done in good faith. We have laws protecting those donations. It's a complete BS excuse.
Load More Replies... Goes to show, corporate never wants you giving out their product so don't show it on social media. I've worked in retail and food service and they all give the lawsuit excuse. Just do it without the media and you will be fine. I hope this guy gets a much better job, Dunkin will hurt a bit from the negative exposure.
Dishonest headline. He wasn't fired for giving away food. He was fired for posting the video.
How about you pass a law saying you can't sue for food you get for free? Lol. I mean i get it in a way. Companies get sued and have to pay a ton of $$ cuz someone took free food, let it sit for three days then gave it to a homeless person. At some point it's not the company's fault. If they knew they would be sued over this I'm sure they would happily give the food away and the problem would be solved.
This kid is smart-aside from posting it. So many restaurants and eateries do this. It is RIDICULOUS and shows our priviledge. I worked at a school..I support teachers not having funds and giving schools the funding to supply teachers. BUT I worked at a good school and they were atill cutting sponges to have them last longer (if that really works...) yet, rhe amount of PERFECTLY good items in the trash on the last couple of days... the custodian started bagging them for me. I took a cart and went around offering to take anything they wanted to trash or Goodwill, and it was full. I am talking supplies, books, manipulatives, even a candy bar. I complained to the schools anonymously. Another time a boss was tossing her stuff in the trash I asked why she didn't separate recycle from Goodwill and she just had no good answer. I offered to help and when I thought she had it under control & was going, she threw something good in the trash. Took home a boxed musical merry go round horse
It might be against the law in some areas. Even if there is nothing stopping individuals from donating food, there could be a city/county/state law, area housing bylaws, and might be built into the business lease that prevents businesses from donations. Still sucks even if they have a legitimate excuse, but businesses are not people under the law, not matter what the Supreme Court says.
It's wasteful to throw away perfectly good food, however, I understand the risk that comes with just giving it away. This young man did a good deed, but should have asked for permission first.
He probably didn't ask for permission because he knew what the answer would be.
Load More Replies... The problem is that restaurants weigh the tiny legal exposure they'd have if they donated food against the zero risk they face when throwing it away. So change that equation by *requiring* that restaurants have a food donation program for food that would otherwise be discarded (and that program can include justification for why some foods are not suitable for donation, like meat trimmings from a butcher shop).
I have to agree to a point that, these days especially, were someone to get food poisoning they're very likely to sue. On the other hand I hate seeing so much waste when people who need it could be helped. It's a catch 22.
Used to do the same in a bakery as a student. Dozens of cakes, baked goods and sandwiches in the bin at the end of every shift. When I challenged it, it was "due to food safety - we can't give it to the homeless unless someone gets ill"... yet you're prepared to give it to paying customers??!Just get a disclaimer set up with the homeless shelter! Anyway, won't name the brand because I do think they've improved over the years, at least in some of their branches. But it's an absolute disgrace in a world where so many are starving.
There was a company in the UK that made their employees poor bleach over the thrown out food in the bins to stop the homeless going through them looking for food after the shop closed. The excuse given was that they could be sued if someone became ill after eating the discarded food. Most people just thought the manager was a d**k.
Someone learned a valuable lesson about crapping on the company you work for on video. Too many, let's just call them idiots, think it's a good idea to use social media for everything, not considering the consequences. He would have been best off doing a good deed in secret. Now, he's fired, and other companies will be highly reticent to hire a loose cannon.
I worked at Kroger years ago for about a minute. There was a lock on the dumpster because homeless people would dig out the old expired packages of meat. Kroger did not like people digging in the dumpster.
shitty management. greedy management. how a country with so much philantropist can produce so many shitty bosses
Technically that's more in the realm of apathy than greed.
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If he's still unemployed, there should be a way to help him until he can get a wage.
But he could not publish it anywhere and still continue helping people......or maybe he could just remain anonymous and post it in text form, not even revealing the franchise, and no one would know!
First: If a person got an alergy reaction or food poisoning because of this, the company could be sued, not him. Second: he was giving away things that didn't belong to him in the first place. Third, f#*k tik tok.
The company could be sued far easier if that happened with a proof of sale. Your logic is flawed.
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if instead of filming and publishing on tiktok, just give the food to the homeless without making a noise, maybe he hadn't been fired and could still donate the food to the homeless. charity or good deeds do not need to be recorded or shared for likes/ views...
He might argue he was trying to raise awareness of the issue but I do agree, charity shouldn't require recognition or fame. In any case, the punishment here certainly didn't fit the crime.
Load More Replies... I used to do this at a French Bakery in Seattle. When the sandwiches were tallied up at the end of the day to be thrown out, I'd bag them up and hand them out to the homeless people on my way home. The owner was completely fine with it. When it came around to Christmas time, he also gave me all the cookies and pastries that would go stale from the shop being closed for 2 days. The homeless guys were so grateful.
France passed laws recently so that no grocery or food items can be thrown away; they MUST be distributed. It can be done. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/24/586579455/french-food-waste-law-changing-how-grocery-stores-approach-excess-food
Yes, i know that in some countries markets will put the vegetables and fruits that were not sold during the day in a special place for other to take. People who could not afford it mainly. So it would not be wasted.
Load More Replies... Probably got fired for violating the company’s social media policy, not for the act itself. Just do the good deed without the camera.
No, the food-wasting practice must be exposed. That is much more important than the charity thing.
Load More Replies... You cannot simply give food away for free for legal reasons typically. Why not work with a charity, such as a Food bank, to have a proper way of distributing to those in need? And what really infuriates me: food waste in landfills creates enormous amount of gases that are bad for the climate. Business should be required to dispose food waste through proper sites, for example for using it in fermentation plant that will create energy and soil.
I worked at a Dunkin' Donuts as my first job back in the day. One of the first things I asked was "why don't we give all this food away instead of tossing it?" At the time, there were two reasons given to me: (1) there is liability associated with food. If someone gets sick, it's your fault. What if an employee swore they were going to run it straight to a shelter but instead they stopped somewhere along the way and it's a super hot day? Or if they just forgot for a couple of days and didn't realize mold had started to grow? which leads to... (2) cost. To do it properly and safely, they would have to pay someone to deliver the leftover food in an approved food transportation vehicle to a homeless shelter, which likely wouldn't be next door. They also would have to pay for all of the containers to transport the food as well as the labor to pack it all up. I absolutely hated throwing it all out, but I saw their point, too.
Load More Replies... I live in the UK and there's an app called 'Too Good To Go' which connects you with restaurant/stores that haven't sold their stock that day so you can get food that was about to be thrown out for a fraction of the price. Win win as restaurants get a bit of money for the stuff they would otherwise dispose of and the benefit for customers is a bit obvious.
We have it in Belgium too. Looks like they still have growth potential..
Load More Replies... Defense Attorney here. Sadly, the rationale of not wanting to be sued is true. It's not worth the risk. Even if you work with a fool bank, you can still be liable even if the fool bank stored it improperly.. It's a sad thing, but unfortunately that is the reality. Insurance companies will typically require it because they don't want to incur the legal fees or there is a disclaimer for it. You can thank your local plaintiff's attorney on tv for this.
I just noticed the hilarious typo "fool bank". Oops. (No offence)
Load More Replies... This comment is going to get down voted, but here it goes. In the "Person who ruined for everyone category," there was a Tim Hortons that used to give away its left over food to the nearby homeless shelter without corporates knowledge. One day corporate came in and said for now on, all food needed to be thrown away, much to the frustration of the employees. One of the employees ran into a homeless when he was chucking all of the perfectly good food away and lamented to him about the waste of it all. The homeless guy informed him that one of the other homeless people tried to sue Tom Hortons over "chocking" on donut. I think these multi-billionaire dollar companies should make official arrangements with local charities to donate their unused food, but some random worker giving away all of the unused food without corporates permission and procedures, opens up the company to liability.
There are unfortunately so many liability issues surrounding donating good. I volunteered at a soup kitchen and a man came in one day and asked if we could package up a meal for his girlfriend who was unwell and unable to come herself. We were able to give him a few buns and some fruit and some packaged items, but anything else had to be eaten there. The health department had very stringent rules about this and we couldn't risk being shut down. It's so unfortunate, but sadly lawyers are always buzzing around waiting for someone to claim distress caused by someone else, whether it's true or not.
Back in the 90s, it was considered a liability issue to give out leftover food in the US. We lived by the credo "no good deed goes unpunished" instead of risking helping people. Over the years, more and more restaurant brands have come around to providing leftover food to organizations that serve the needy or have established their own and I'm pretty happy about that change of perspective. More needs to be done, but we're heading in the right direction.
I find this ironic . People are complaining about them not donating food . They aren't donating food due to liability issues ... caused by people being so litigious . Society will only change when we stop morally weighing in online while usually doing nothing. It's easy to judge from a computer screen. Social media "let's point the finger , or let's scorn " this person for whatever the issue of the day is. Close mouths , open hearts and minds . We need to heal as a society . United not divided
Good god there are no damn liability issues, you can't sue the company because you got food from a food bank. Damn the ignorance in these comments.
Load More Replies... Really high end designer brands will literally incinerate the clothes that didn't sell for the season. They refuse to see their brand end up on clearance racks or discount stores because they want to keep their brand exclusive and in demand.
Donuts are nothing compared to the food hotels and resorts throw out. Literally watched a hotel trash 100s of filet mignon because it was "extra".
I glad that people like him do stuff like this, he shouldn’t have been fired
For every ridiculous rule or law, there is at least one lawsuit behind it. People suck, and there will always be those who are in search of a way to never have to work another day in their lives. Even if they need frivolous lawsuits to do it. We've all seen it.
Years ago, a DD in my neighborhood decided to do the same thing and got sued because one of the homeless people claimed to have gotten sick from the donuts. They stopped it immediately and many other DDs followed suit. Sadly, these things happen more than you think and the risk is bigger than the good deed.
I don't support wasting food. However employees can't just decide on their own what to do with the products that are not theirs. They are the company's belongings, and the company decides where they will go, even to the garbage dump. This employee was donating someone else's assets to charity, pretty sure it counted as stealing.
Oh BOO HOO, poor gigantic corporations, how mistreated they are. Good lord you're brainwashed.
Load More Replies... I worked in a Tim Hortons in Canada on the night shiff too, and i did the exact same thing : throwing away all the donuts and stuff when they were still good to eat, every night.
Here's the take of someone I know who's been a manager of a fast food chain. The leftover food? They didn't give them out directly but the homeless can dig. The reason there is, if they give the food to homeless and lets say the homeless got sick or vomit or create any unpleasant reaction or they simply do that to create a commotion, the company will suffer more by paying them compensation. Once you give them food directly,they can actually point you as the person who gives food that causes them pain and can claim that the food poisoned them. In return, the company will pay.
There👏 Are👏 People👏 In Africa who are STARVING and we throw away 300 donuts... America get with it
Yes, I learned long ago that this is standard procedure for restaurants and grocery stores in the United States. How altruistic a country the US is, eh? Ya know, these disgusting companies could even use food donations as a tax write-off and gain millions of dollars from doing so, but nope, it's just not worth the effort. Interesting commentary on morality, I think.
My mother has volunteered in several food pantries and soup kitchens for many years. Some supermarkets are extremely generous with the food and supplies they donate. Others, not so much. Feel free to shame the lazy franchisees who "can't be bothered" to help out the less fortunate in their communities.
Exactly, they donate properly and with no liability problems. Something apparently a buncha people in this thread think doesn't happen.
Load More Replies... ...or how about just lowering prices or having better deals as well. NOPE...NEVER ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY....IT GETS WRITTEN OFF in the Five million page TAX CODE
In the USA there are literally laws protecting food donations as long as it's reasonable to expect the food is still edible. The liability excuse is 100% horse s**t.
Liable is legit f*****g retarded and such flagrant bullshit. 1 day old food wont hurt no one 2 its f****d up but the homeless can't sue and neither can food shelters
It's not even day old. Come in 5 minutes before closing you get the same donuts as a customer. Do people think they magically become inedible 5 minutes after closing?
Load More Replies... I think it's shameful, especially now that so many people are going hungry.
I was arrested for this in 2014. I worked at a coffee shop and would take the pastries that were supposed to go in the garbage and bought a 2 gallon thermos (of my own money, of which I did not have much at the time) and would hand out pastries and coffe at a park where many homeless ppl stayed. I was arrested for selling food without a license and although all charges were dropped, it almost got me kicked out of college, and because I was fighting this my grades tanked making my gpa pitiful, thus not allowing me to do an internship, thus not allowing me to find a great job in chemical engineering or go to grad school.. all because one cop hated homeless people.
Dunkin is a great company though and it does look like that was the manager of that store who did that
I have given food out to homeless in various capacities and never posted it to social media. This guy wanted to show how such " a great person" he is by filming this and posting it. Just do nice things for people and don't post them on TikTok.
He also wanted to tell people what goes on in these stores every day. He must have known he was risking his job by filming and posting.
Load More Replies... Its a complete bullshit to say donut can make you sick because it has been sitting for a long time at the shelf. I often eat more than 12 hrs old donut (buy in the afternoon, ate..and eat the rest in the morning) and never get single stomach ache ever. The worst things can happen is the donut become a bit hardened
Its about liability. The restaurant is only willing to accept liability for harm which comes to a customer from products which are 8 hours old. Any older and the risk is deemed unacceptable and the merchandise is disposed of. The same goes for 'expiration dates' on products, they are merely the date and time at which the manufacturer is no longer liable for them. I certainly don't agree with the practice, but I understand why it exists.
Load More Replies... this is a bit extreme... they shouldnt have to throw away so many donuts. he shouldnt have been fired for that
DD is run by many very young people. So the corporates and the management has tried to eliminate any possibility of lawsuits. Teeth braking and illness. However when u buy the donut , you chose that donut . When u get that one … from being delivered… the worker became responsible for something . And the problem is Dunkn doesn’t want to insure the worker past the register. Also when u order something it’s different…. You can’t say anything about an allergy! Allergies are real. And not everyone knows what’s in the bag when it’s being donated . When u order it; it now makes that person who ordered their food responsible for their own actions and bodily functions. Signs are posted about ingredients at the store. AT THE STORE.
it's a LIE about them being liable if someone gets sick. it's covered under the good Samaritan act. they just don't want to "lose profit" by donating stuff. it's greed plain and simple
I used to work at a grocerry store and at night when the hot case in the deli was closed the workers used to let us take the left overs home... it usually not a ton but it would mean a couple of meals and for college kids it was helpful. the big boss found out and made them start dumping it in the trash. They would still give us smaller containers of food when they could though.
So did he give the donuts away because he wanted to feed the homeless or because he was hoping to add more followers? His motives are very dubious.
I was told the same thing at a Wawa in PA that stocked Dunkin... the guy would come in at like midnight, open the case and take any donuts that were left and shitcan them. I asked can I buy any of those? No... I'll give you a dime for each... NO! What happens to them. "We toss them in the trash" WTF? Why not at least give them to a shelter or whatever? No! We can't... If someone gets sick on one, we would be liable. Ummm... who's gonna get sick on a donut now that wouldn't have gotten sick on it an hour ago? We can't be held liable. So some blowhard lawyers with a lawsuit mind just so they can make millions prevents you from giving this away and showing what a wasteful society we have? Yeah, it's unfortunate but that's how it is. One guy gets sick or SAYS he got sick, hires these shysters and boom... that's F-ked up... Yeah, I know... No wonder other countries hate us... we're litigious, money hungry idiots that can't even help someone less fortunate without being sued by some shyster
A humane manager would have avoided troube by saying "Bryan, plese delete your posts and don't make new ones. Management wants you sacked. But you can keep on giving out the doughnuts so long as you keep it quiet. OK? A humane and intlligent manager would have done then and also kept track of which items produced excessive daily surpluses--and then made less of them.
I can't get over how much waste they make daily. If you are throwing away hundreds a day you are making too much! Are they hoping for some weird rush that never comes? Just optimistic?
We need to get our food waste laws changed in this country. Make it so that good samaritans cannot be sued.
It is debateable that Dunkin Donuts can be classed as food! Poor homeless people! :-)
Dunkin Donuts fired this guy because, while he has a good heart, his giving away food that, by law, cannot be sold the next day, placed the company in jeopardy of being sued - had any one of the homeless people that ate the food been given away, become sick with food poisoning, then they could have sued Dunkin Donuts (no good deed goes unpunished)... remember, here in the US, we live in a litigation society - where you can literally be sued for saving someone's life - so an act like this, where an employee gives away free food that is supposed to be disposed of, places the company at needless risk - and THAT's why this guy got fired.
It isn't "crony capitalism" that sucks, but rather the litigious society that we live in... where people refuse to take personal responsibility for their own actions, and where people believe that they are entitled to $100 million lifestyles because they were inconvenienced in some way... that's the same reason why medical insurance costs so much... the money that pays a "slip and fall" victim $100 million has to come from somewhere...
Load More Replies... Some 15 years ago, I used to work at the Hyatt. The amount of food thrown away was ridiculous.
Honestly I cant blame the companies here . Their reasoning is sound. My minimum wage employee defies company policy hands out food and someone claims ( true or not) it made them sick they can and in our litigous crazed society WILL sue the crap out of the company not the employee. They know if they want to make big bucks suing a 16 yo will do nothing, but suing a corporation with millions/billions in the bank is the fast track to easy street.
There are so many ways to donate food and not have liability it's not even funny. Look it up.
Load More Replies... Devil's Advocate: rather than being "uncaring," there may be a liability issue here. I say this as someone who had a 'grand' idea to donate bread from a local restaurant at the end of the night, and my church said they could get sued if someone got sick. Also, donuts aren't a good option, especially for someone who likely has a poor nutritional profile. He should work with a food bank or organization already doing this kind of work.
Well there's not when you donate through official proper channels. So that isn't an excuse. Period.
Load More Replies... The food restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries etc...are wasting is a disgrace. I'm sure the homeless would prefer taking the tiny risk of getting sick from it rather than refuse those leftovers (because apparently, it's a health and safety concern that businesses can't donate the food). And I'm sure some customers would be happy to pay less for those too. They had started the trend of selling cheap, ugly fruits and veg, it has stopped, why?
My wife worked for Harris Teeter supermarkets in North Carolina. Although some chains are generous about donating, these jokers were not. When the economy started to decline, their response to hungry people going through their dumpsters for food was to install padlocks on them.
Wait, this is in my hometown I believe. Let me go check his Tiktok out
I don't want to know how many food gets thrown away every day... really don't want to know. Imagine: the amount of food thrown away and then imagine: people dying at the SAME time while the food goes into the bin. Imagine this picture!
I feel like a couple of things need to be pointed out here about policies such as these - many places have rules saying that food can't be given away because it's a liability and could get the company sued if someone gets sick, and some places have policies like these because when allowed to take leftover food some people would purposely make too much so they could take it. Now admittedly the bakery I worked at had leftover food donated to the local food bank at the end of the day, but even that had restrictions such as they couldn't donate food marked vegan or vegetarian because there was no guarantee that they could be kept separate and so might not be vegan or vegetarian by the time they arrived at the food bank. Places do try, but there does need to be an understanding of rules and why they are there. Perhaps this is something that needs to be brought up verbally?
Perhaps it's something governments should actually care about and discuss, yeah. Of course, that would never happen.
Load More Replies... To the bubbalo comment. Why throw something away that doesn't expire?
It's awful that this kid was fired and that the company throws away so much food, but the reason any of this happens is due to the massive liability that the company has to hold by donating. If Americans weren't so obsessed with suing each other/big companies over everything then it wouldn't be an issue.
There is no liability in the USA for food donations done in good faith. We have laws protecting those donations. It's a complete BS excuse.
Load More Replies... Goes to show, corporate never wants you giving out their product so don't show it on social media. I've worked in retail and food service and they all give the lawsuit excuse. Just do it without the media and you will be fine. I hope this guy gets a much better job, Dunkin will hurt a bit from the negative exposure.
Dishonest headline. He wasn't fired for giving away food. He was fired for posting the video.
How about you pass a law saying you can't sue for food you get for free? Lol. I mean i get it in a way. Companies get sued and have to pay a ton of $$ cuz someone took free food, let it sit for three days then gave it to a homeless person. At some point it's not the company's fault. If they knew they would be sued over this I'm sure they would happily give the food away and the problem would be solved.
This kid is smart-aside from posting it. So many restaurants and eateries do this. It is RIDICULOUS and shows our priviledge. I worked at a school..I support teachers not having funds and giving schools the funding to supply teachers. BUT I worked at a good school and they were atill cutting sponges to have them last longer (if that really works...) yet, rhe amount of PERFECTLY good items in the trash on the last couple of days... the custodian started bagging them for me. I took a cart and went around offering to take anything they wanted to trash or Goodwill, and it was full. I am talking supplies, books, manipulatives, even a candy bar. I complained to the schools anonymously. Another time a boss was tossing her stuff in the trash I asked why she didn't separate recycle from Goodwill and she just had no good answer. I offered to help and when I thought she had it under control & was going, she threw something good in the trash. Took home a boxed musical merry go round horse
It might be against the law in some areas. Even if there is nothing stopping individuals from donating food, there could be a city/county/state law, area housing bylaws, and might be built into the business lease that prevents businesses from donations. Still sucks even if they have a legitimate excuse, but businesses are not people under the law, not matter what the Supreme Court says.
It's wasteful to throw away perfectly good food, however, I understand the risk that comes with just giving it away. This young man did a good deed, but should have asked for permission first.
He probably didn't ask for permission because he knew what the answer would be.
Load More Replies... The problem is that restaurants weigh the tiny legal exposure they'd have if they donated food against the zero risk they face when throwing it away. So change that equation by *requiring* that restaurants have a food donation program for food that would otherwise be discarded (and that program can include justification for why some foods are not suitable for donation, like meat trimmings from a butcher shop).
I have to agree to a point that, these days especially, were someone to get food poisoning they're very likely to sue. On the other hand I hate seeing so much waste when people who need it could be helped. It's a catch 22.
Used to do the same in a bakery as a student. Dozens of cakes, baked goods and sandwiches in the bin at the end of every shift. When I challenged it, it was "due to food safety - we can't give it to the homeless unless someone gets ill"... yet you're prepared to give it to paying customers??!Just get a disclaimer set up with the homeless shelter! Anyway, won't name the brand because I do think they've improved over the years, at least in some of their branches. But it's an absolute disgrace in a world where so many are starving.
There was a company in the UK that made their employees poor bleach over the thrown out food in the bins to stop the homeless going through them looking for food after the shop closed. The excuse given was that they could be sued if someone became ill after eating the discarded food. Most people just thought the manager was a d**k.
Someone learned a valuable lesson about crapping on the company you work for on video. Too many, let's just call them idiots, think it's a good idea to use social media for everything, not considering the consequences. He would have been best off doing a good deed in secret. Now, he's fired, and other companies will be highly reticent to hire a loose cannon.
I worked at Kroger years ago for about a minute. There was a lock on the dumpster because homeless people would dig out the old expired packages of meat. Kroger did not like people digging in the dumpster.
shitty management. greedy management. how a country with so much philantropist can produce so many shitty bosses
Technically that's more in the realm of apathy than greed.
Load More Replies... If he's still unemployed, there should be a way to help him until he can get a wage.
But he could not publish it anywhere and still continue helping people......or maybe he could just remain anonymous and post it in text form, not even revealing the franchise, and no one would know!
First: If a person got an alergy reaction or food poisoning because of this, the company could be sued, not him. Second: he was giving away things that didn't belong to him in the first place. Third, f#*k tik tok.
The company could be sued far easier if that happened with a proof of sale. Your logic is flawed.
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