Wendy's manager reportedly suspended after claiming local area has 'no talent pool' to hire from: 'Most are recovering addicts'

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This wasn’t the response a frustrated customer was likely expecting.

When a Massachusetts man recently complained in an email to Wendy’s about a bad experience at the Wareham location, he received a strange response. The district manager allegedly replied that the town had “little to no talent pool” to hire from because many people in the area were "recovering addicts."

Customer Matthew Rose has since posted an image of the email exchange on Facebook.

“My name is Keith and I’m the DM for the Wendy’s in Wareham. I apologize for your experiences at this location. Not an excuse but the town of Wareham has little to no talent pool to hire from. This is an ongoing issue in that area," the reply note read.

"We are constantly interviewing and hiring any and all qualified candidates," it continued. "Unfortunately, those candidates are hard to come by, as most are recovering addicts and we cannot hire them. We will continue to do our best to fix the issues in this location and improve the overall Wendy’s experience."

Rose posted the image to a public group for residents who live in Wareham, captioning the shot “I try not to complain on here that much but this is ridiculous."

Rose later updated the post, saying that he spoke with the Chief People Officer of Wendy's. Rose said the district manager has been suspended pending an internal investigation. The CPO will reportedly be reaching out to the town administrator for "help in changing the public's view of the company."

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Rose told Fox News that he has previously complained after more than one bad experience at the restaurant, one of which included waiting 30 minutes for his order.

"It wasn't about the lack of help, it was about the poor use of the help they had," he claimed.

In terms of other restaurants in the area and their staff, Rose said, "This is the only one I deal with that seems to have this big of a problem."

He also stated that he'd consider going back to the restaurant if he could see that they were making a difference there.

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When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Wendy's offered Fox News the following statement:

“These comments are inconsistent with our Company’s values and do not reflect Wendy’s hiring practices," a representative said. "We work hard to create a welcoming and inclusive environment in our restaurants, and will address this appropriately."