Man with Down syndrome fired from Wendy’s after 20 years

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A family in North Carolina is looking for answers after their loved one was fired from a job he’s been doing for more than 20 years.

Dennis Peek has Down syndrome and was planning to retire soon from a Wendy’s restaurant in Gaston County.

Peek’s family is now advocating for him after they found out he was fired without receiving notice.

They said a store manager fired Peek because “he wasn’t able to do his job like a normal person.”

“I’m out here because I need to be his voice for the way he was treated,” Cona Turner, Peek’s sister said. “He don’t understand and we can’t tell him he was terminated. We have not told him and we won’t tell him.”

Turner said she did not know what to do and took her heartbreak and frustrations to Facebook to spread the word.

Thursday morning, Turner said she received a call from the Carolina restaurant group that owns and operates the Wendy’s saying he could be reinstated next week.

Cona stated in an update on Facebook that Peek will not be returning to work at the restaurant and will be having the retirement party he had been wanting.