Advertisement 7-Eleven worker can keep job after offering free coffee to homeless man Ava Lins says boss took her off schedule after giving man $1 cup of joe Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Ava Lins, 19, is in financial dire straits."I have about $10 to my name," she told NewsCenter 5 on Monday from her Salem apartment.Watch the reportHer electricity and her cellphone service are about to be terminated. She can barely afford her rent, and just finally caught up with her heating bill.Lins said much of that was because the 7-Eleven convenience store on Norman Street in Salem was in the process of firing her for giving away a free coffee to a homeless man."He was freezing," Lins told NewsCenter 5's Liam Martin in an exclusive story. "You could tell. It was one of the coldest nights of the month."She offered him a warm cup of joe -- a small, worth about $1.She said her boss, Romany Youseff, entered the store Thursday night as the homeless man was leaving."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,'" she said.Youseff, the owner of the 7-Eleven, confronted Lins about the incident the next day. She admitted that the man hadn't actually purchased the coffee. Lins demanded that she pay for it.She did. A few days later, she was effectively out of work."Basically my co-worker called me after my shift and told me that he took me off the schedule," she said. "He was done with me."Lins said Youseff has wanted to fire her ever since she requested Sundays off and that he's using the homeless man incident as an opportunity.Under state law, employees at retail establishments can decline to work Sundays without fear of retribution from their employers.Youseff calls himself a hardworking small business owner who said he has received nothing but angry phone calls since Lins told her story to NewsCenter5.Earlier in the day, he said he was strongly considering firing Lins, saying he couldn't allow employees to steal from the store.Now he's saying he can't fault her compassion."I don't have any problem," he said. "I told her it's OK. Everyone forget it. It's OK."As for Lins' employment status, Youseff said she can come back to work if she wants to. "7-Eleven preaches that they're customer-oriented," she said. "Well, I tried to show that. I paid with my own money. I hope that if I ever worked for someone else, they would understand where I'm coming from," she said. Lins said she'll be at work Tuesday with a smile on her face.