OUTRAGE: Georgia Man Fired In California Due To Southern Accent According to recent reports, 36-year-old Georgian Dennis Townsen was recently fired from his job at the New Though Textile Institute (NTTI) in California for what is being called discriminatory and unlawful reasons. Reports claim that Townsen was a hardworking employee at his job, with a spotless record. He was offered many jobs around the country, but decided on NTTI. His coworkers describe him as, An individual who was not only pleasant and friendly, but consistently professional. Now, Townsen has written an open letter to Jack Phillips, the owner responsible for the termination. He has sent the letter to several California news stations and nearly hundreds of media outlets. It wasnt until 6 months ago that the workplace harassment began, Townsen writes. A new department manager, Jack Phillips, was brought on board after our previous manager had retired. From day one I could tell Phillips didnt like me. I wasnt sure if I had unknowingly offended him or why he treated me so much more poorly then all of the other employees in our department. He was always making condescending remarks towards me and the harassment only continued to get worse and worse. Townsen goes on to describe that the focus of the harassment was surrounding the fact that he was born in the south, and Phillips was an avid (and vocal) Obama supporter. According to Townsen, Phillips began to pick on his heritage, and specifically his accent, telling Townsen that he needed to learn proper English. I do believe I was made a target and subsequently fired for having a southern accent, Dennis concludes in his letter. What do you think? Is this just wrong? 