FedEx Driver Fired Over Accent: Ismail Aliyev Sues Shipping Company and GHB Trucking for Discriminating Against Russian Accent

Tennessee truck driver Ismail Aliyev has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the popular shipping company FedEx and the long-haul contractor GNB Trucking Co. for allegedly firing him for speaking with a Russian accent. Aliyev claims that he was fired from his position based solely on his foreign accent, even after offering to appear face-to-face in front of corporate higher-ups to prove his superior English-speaking capabilities. He was denied this opportunity and ordered to be promptly fired after receiving a complaint warning from an Iowa weigh station. Aliyev is now seeking redemption against what he considers such obvious discrimination.

Aliyev recently filed the federal discrimination lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, alleging that FedEx ordered his firing from GNB - the manager who mandated the dismissal wouldn't even allow Aliyev to fly out and speak with him in person. Aliyev insists that the trouble surrounding his Russian accent started just a few months into the job, when an Iowa weigh station gave his company a warning about his "unclear" pronunciation (but not an official citation). In order to hold a commercial driver's license, it is a requirement that one must be able to communicate clearly and efficiently.

According to Aliyev's lawyer Robert H. Wilde, the former FedEx employee does have a rather strong Russian accent, but "it's very understandable." Wilde insists, "GNB said he was an excellent employee and would like to keep him, but it was instructed by FedEx to terminate him."

Aliyev (who now works as an independent truck driver) recently said in a phone interview with the AP, "I think for a driver, my English is not too bad."

Wilde claims that the manager who fired Aliyev should have at least agreed to meet with him like Aliyev initially offered. GNB Trucking insists that FedEx controls the hiring and firing of its truck drivers and several other business terms.

According to GNB manager Ben Ishhanov (who speaks with an Armenian accent) - "We haven't fired anyone for that. If FedEx told us to fire a driver, we can't do anything about that. Some guys don't know any English. That's the problem." Ishhanov also speculated that Aliyev had initially flunked an English test given by a FedEx field office following his hiring, but Aliyev's son Elshad denies it. "He was told to write something on a blackboard and read some papers," he said. Elshad insists that his father can be a little hard to understand at times (especially on the telephone), but "if you would talk to him personally, you could communicate well enough."

According to Elshad, his Turkish family has experienced much heartache and discrimination since having to flee Russia in 2005 - "It really does hurt," said Elshad Aliyev, who speaks flawless English. "We lost everything in Russia."

Wilde finishes off with, "FedEx just decided they didn't want to deal with him, or even talk to him." Aliyev seeks an unspecified amount for lost wages and punitive damages in the lawsuit.