A North Carolina man with Down syndrome was fired from a Wendy’s restaurant without notice after he had worked there for more than 20 years, his family has said.
He was later reinstated at the restaurant after a Facebook post by his sister went viral.
Dennis Peek was set to retire from the fast food restaurant in Stanley, northwest of Charlotte in the southern parts of the state, on his own accord, but his family now says that he was removed from his post because “he wasn’t able to do his job like a normal person,” WSOC reported.
“I’m out here because I need to be his voice for the way he was treated,” Mr Peek’s sister Cona Turner told the local TV station.
She said she discovered on Wednesday that her younger brother had been fired after working there for nearly 22 years.
“I asked why and I was told he could not perform his duties,” she said. “He [doesn’t] understand and we can’t tell him he was terminated. We have not told him and we won’t tell him.”
Ms Turner shared her anger at her brother’s firing on Facebook. After the story spread across social media, she said she got a call from Carolina Restaurant Group, which owns and runs the fast food restaurant. She said they told her that her brother could return to his role as soon as next week.
In a statement, the Carolina Restaurant Group said that “we are committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for our employees and our customers. This was an unfortunate mistake and lapse in protocol; we are in touch with the employee’s family, and we are looking forward to welcoming him back to work in the restaurant”.
Disability Right North Carolina lawyer Christopher Hodgson told WSOC that “it turns into discrimination, especially when somebody’s making generalizations about someone’s disabilities and stereotypes about what they can and can’t do, when it’s no longer based on what they’re doing, but fears around their own limitations”.
“My brother Dennis has worked at Wendy’s in Stanley for over 20 years and I am heartbroken to say they have fired him,” Ms Turner wrote on Facebook on 5 October. “His dream was to retire from there some day and he was looking forward to a huge retirement party, we may just give him that party and tell him he has retired because he does not understand being fired.”
“They told me was unable to perform the duties of a normal person’s job,” she added. “I am also looking into a wrongful termination of a special needs employee, wish me luck! I am very disappointed with the management at Wendy’s in Stanley, they have no idea how they hurt my brother!”
In an update on the same post, she later added that “they have offered Dennis his job back starting next week. My heart is overwhelmed by the support that you all have given my brother and myself! Thank you all so much!”
The post has been shared more than 11,000 times.
Mr Peek has been described as a fun and cheerful person who often speaks about looking forward to his retirement, WSOC noted.
His family are now deciding whether to have an early retirement celebration for him and invite the friends he made while working at the restaurant or if he should return to the job, the outlet reported.
When reached by The Independent for comment, Wendy’s referred back to the statement issued by the Carolina Restaurant Group.
The Independent has contacted Ms Turner for comment.
