Months after sparking debate on social media, a DoorDash driver is facing serious consequences over explicit footage she posted.
In October, DoorDash delivery person Olivia Henderson took to TikTok to accuse a New York customer of an act she believed constituted “sexual assault”. According to her, she approached his porch and noticed his front door was open, and that he was laying on his couch, partially naked inside:
“A man named Austin orders DoorDash selects to option to have order left at door sees his door dasher (me) has a female name ‘falls asleep on the couch’ with his pants and underwear to his ankles and his front door wide open in 59°F so this is what I see when I have to leave the order”
In the since-deleted TikTok, Olivia proceeded to share footage she recorded of the man inside his home, partially naked (censored), and asleep on his couch.
Olivia reported the incident to Door Dash and eventually the New York State Police, who cast doubt over there being any real grounds to press charges considering the man was inside his own home and didn’t “come up to the door with [his genitalia] out.”
After that, both Olivia and the customer had their DoorDash accounts terminated as the footage she recorded and posted was in direct violation of their codes of conduct. The company shared in a statement at the time:
“No one should ever have to experience sexual assault, harassment, or abuse, and DoorDash never deactivates someone for reporting it — full stop. We take these reports incredibly seriously and work closely with law enforcement to investigate and support those affected. However, posting a video of a customer in their home, and disclosing their personal details publicly, is a clear violation of our policies. That is the sole reason that this dashers account was deactivated, along with the customer’s, while we investigated.”
Olivia reacted to her firing by telling her TikTok followers:
“I just lost my job and they won’t tell me why … They just punished me for posting about my sexual assault while DoorDashing. They just fired me. And the police are doing nothing. I lost my job, that was my only way to make money to pay my bills.”
Seven months later, the tide has completely shifted on Olivia, who initially felt victimized, but is now facing charges for allegedly victimizing the customer.
According to multiple news stations, Olivia was taken into custody on November 10 and hit with two FELONY charges as a direct result of posting the sensitive footage online: unlawful surveillance and dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image. And on Friday, the 23-year-old appeared in court in Oswego County, New York after a grand jury voted to indict her.
According to court docs seen by WSYR-TV, authorities claim Olivia “degraded” the customer by recording and sharing the footage of him inside his home, where privacy should be a reasonable expectation. Per the docs, the customer fully complied with cops during their investigation, which concluded with no evidence of sexual assault being found. According to an officer, the customer was asleep on the couch after drinking.
During her indictment, Olivia officially entered a not guilty plea. She denied claims that she opened the customer’s door and entered his house to obtain the footage, and said she has “irrefutable proof” the door was already open upon her arrival. She also noted that “due to its importance,” she wasn’t able to post it at the time everything blew up. But get this… Despite her argument, if she’s found guilty, the former food delivery driver could face up to eight YEARS behind bars over the situation!
Whoa!
Olivia’s public defender David Smallwood has since addressed the situation, which blew up on social media as users debated whether or not Olivia was in the wrong:
“I think it probably has more traction outside of the community than locally, because for whatever reason, this is just one of those things that’s caught a wave, perhaps because of how the investigation started.”
As of now, she’s slated to return to court on June 5.
Where do you land on this ongoing situation, Perezcious readers? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources
[Images via Image created for PerezHilton.com]
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