A woman who was caught on camera verbally and physically assaulting a Navy sailor at a pizzeria in Berlin, Connecticut, has been fired by her employer.
Earlier this week, a video showing the woman slapping the navy sailor and launching a profanity-laced verbal attack at the man in uniform in an incident that took place on Sept. 11 was widely circulated on social media.
'That's Not a Uniform'
"This is disgusting, disgusting you f*cking piece of s*hit!" the woman says to the sailor, Sean Nolte Jr., claiming he was wearing a fake uniform. She is then seen throwing the sailor's hat on the ground and slapping him in video footage recorded by Maria Karoni, the sailor's friend, inside Central Pizza.
"Ma'am, you're on camera," Karoni tells the woman and asks her to leave before the cops are called. The woman responds by urging Karoni to film the sailor's uniform, appearing to infer that he isn't actually a member of the military and calling him a "disgrace" to the country.
"That's not a uniform, you piece of f*cking s*it." the woman says before walking out of the restaurant. Watch the video below:
Nolte Jr., a Navy Submarine school student, described the incident in a Facebook post, saying the woman was constantly staring at her inside the pizzeria but he smiled at her since he was in uniform.
"As she leaves, she looks at me and says 'Nice Smile' very sarcastically. I reply 'Thank You, have a nice day ma'am' and continue about my day," he wrote. "Not even 30 seconds later she comes marching back in, and yells at the Pizzeria staff 'He is a fake by the way, my husband is in the Army....' you can probably assume the rest."
He added that he tried to show her his military ID, but she claimed it was fake too.
Who is Lori J. Desjardins?
The woman in the video was later identified as 45-year-old Lori J. Desjardins by popular TikTok user Denise Bradley, who goes by @auntkaren01 on the platform.
Bradley also revealed that Desjardins was employed at Aetna – a health insurance company under CVS Health - as a Behavioral Healthcare Planner. Several Twitter users drew the Aetna's attention to the video and urged the company to fire Desjardins for assaulting a member of the military.
Desjardins No Longer Employed with Aetna, Arrested for Assault
Aetna responded to the complaints with a tweet on Wednesday, saying it was "looking into" the incident.
A few hours later, when a netizen asked for an update on the status of the investigation, Aetna replied saying the employee was "no longer employed at CVS Health."
Desjardins was arrested by the Berlin Police Department on Thursday, Sept. 16. Police said they served Desjardins an active arrest warrant that charged her with third-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace. She was released on a $10,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court in New Britain on Sept. 23.
