Salem 7-Eleven Clerk Scolded For Giving Cold Homeless Man Coffee

A local 7-Eleven clerk's act of compassion for a stranger and the response it prompted from her boss is causing a stir in Salem, Mass., after the teen's story aired on WCVB Boston.

Ava Lins, 19, told WCVB reporter Liam Martin that her boss, Romany Yousseff, threatened to fire her after he found out she handed out a free $1 cup of coffee to a freezing homeless man on a cold night last week. 

But it doesn't look like she'll be going back - Lins took to Facebook Tuesday morning to let her friends know she's decided to quit after a flood of job offers came in from other area convenience stores. 

"Waking up just as overwhelmed as when I fell asleep," Lins posted. 

According to the WCVB story, on Thursday, March 13, Lins let a homeless man pass with a hot cup of joe  and had to lie for him when he was confronted by Yousseff on the way out the door. 

The overnight low in Salem that night was 15 degrees. 

"My boss ... grabbed his jacket and began screaming and yelling, 'Did you pay for this? Did you pay for this?' And I lied for him, I said, 'Yes,'" Lins told WCVB.

When Yousseff double-checked and found out Lins wasn't telling the truth, he cut her hours, she said. 

After Martin's story aired, Yousseff said he received numerous angry phone calls and later decided Lins could keep her job at the Norman Street 7-Eleven.

Now some local customers are taking to social media to organize a boycott of the downtown Salem store while others are pointing out that the Lifebridge shelter is just a block away. 

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