An incident involving a Licensed Practical Nurse employed by the Nathaniel Witherell, Greenwich’s town-owned nursing home on Parsonage Road, is being investigated by the Witherell after a cell phone video that appears to be shot at the Shoprite on Hope Street in Stamford went viral.
The video was shot on June 2 by Sarina Gupta returning items at Shoprite’s customer service desk when the woman, later identified by @ThatDaneshGuy as Victoria Louise Mason of Stamford, appears to make racist comments to Ms Gupta.
Ms Gupta posted her video interaction on Tik Tok asking if anyone knew the woman’s identity to let her know.
From there, Danesh re-shared Gupta’s video with added commentary on his channels.
@guptasarina POV: it’s your birthday and a woman tells you to “go back to your country and stay out of America” in the Grade A Market (ShopRite) in Stamford, CT. If anyone has any information about her please let me know. Posting the full video here (shorter clip below) #stamford #stamfordct #darien #hatecomments #racist
Danesh whose handle is @ThatDaneshGuy shared his video on his website, Tik Tok, Youtube and Instagram with added commentary and images.
Danesh is a popular Iranian-American TikTok star, podcaster, and social media personality. His website says he uses his skill of identifying aggressors in viral videos to help victims get justice through legal means.
In the video, the woman later identified as Ms Mason, says to Ms Gupta, “Doesn’t matter, put me on Instagram. Put me wherever you want. Go eat your bacon.” She continues to give the middle finger to the Ms Gupta and at one point turns her own phone on the Gupta.
Ms Mason says, “You can keep filming me honey. You might want to worry about your fat hanging off…” as she taps in her number at the checkout.
In Danesh’s version, he bursts out laughing when he sees the Mason’s number is recorded as part of Ms Gupta’s video, and says, “Hello Victoria Mason,” going on to flash a screenshot her voter registration on his video with the address blurred out.
At the end of Ms Mason’s interaction with Ms Gupta, Ms Martin says, “I’m going to take a picture of the swine in front of me. I’m going to get the front and the ugly back. Now she’s on file and she’ll be all over Instagram too.”
“Yeah. Good,” Ms Gupta responds.
“Meet you on Instagram,” Ms Mason says.
Gathering up her bag of shredded cheese and cigarettes to leave, Mason says to Gupta, “Am I taking up your time with your return with your long return, you fat ass? Go back to your f###ing country and (inaudible) and stay out of America. Go eat your bacon. Lord knows she has been.”
In a follow up video, Danesh shares a response from the Nathaniel Witherell, which is available on the nursing home’s Facebook page, saying an investigation had been launched:
“Nathaniel Witherell is aware of a video circulating on social media involving an individual identified as one of our employees. We are deeply troubled by the comments made in the video. These remarks do not reflect the values, policies, or culture of Nathaniel Witherell. We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding hate speech, discrimination, and harassment in any form. Nathaniel Witherell is committed to maintaining a diverse, inclusive, and respectful environment for our employees, partners, and the communities we serve.”
On govsalaries.com, Ms Mason is identified as a LPN Staff/Chg, a healthcare industry abbreviation for Licensed Practical Nurse who is assigned as Staff or Charge on a given shift, employed by the Town of Greenwich.
In an email to GFP on Tuesday, Ms Gupta described the June 2 incident as a “racist verbal attack,” which happened to be on her birthday.
“As someone entrusted with caring for elderly and vulnerable individuals, including residents of diverse backgrounds, her conduct raises serious concerns about the safety and well-being of those under her care. Nursing homes should be places where all residents are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion regardless of race, ethnicity, or background,” Gupta wrote to GFP.
“I believe this story extends beyond a single incident of public harassment. It raises important questions about accountability, discrimination, and the standards we expect from professionals who work with vulnerable populations. Given the significant public interest the video has already generated, I hope you will consider covering this story and examining the broader issues it presents.”
State Rep Steve Meskers, who has been a strong supporter of the Nathaniel Witherell over the years, responded by email to say:
“While I cannot attest to the authenticity of the video, I can say that on it face, if it is true, that this behavior is unacceptable. It needs to be thoroughly investigated. I recently had a friend who passed away after a stay at Nathaniel Witherell. The nurses I encountered there were both kind, compassionate, and respectful. We should expect no less from all of the employees.”
The Board of Selectmen issued a statement:
“We are aware of this video and the Town of Greenwich is looking into this matter. Since it involves personnel, we cannot comment any further at this time.”
In a follow up, Ms Gupta issued a statement on TikTok on Tuesday (see last link below).
@guptasarina Replying to @Jadzia Nerys Storytime of Victoria Mason’s racist attacks on me, telling me to go back to my country #stamford #greenwich #nurse #hate #fyp
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