An executive at a medical manufacturing firm lost his job
after a YouTube video of him verbally ambushing a young employee at a
Tucson Chick-fil-A went viral.Adam Smith, formerly Chief
Financial Officer at Vante, 'stepped down' after the video — which Smith
shot and uploaded himself —caused embarrassment to the company.The
video was picked up by countless blogs. Before Smith took it off of
YouTube, others had downloaded it and re-posted it. Both the escapade
and its fallout filled Tucson-linked tweets.Smith, who served as
an adjunct lecturer at the University of Arizona last semester, filmed
himself berating a drive-thru employee at Chick-fil-A, 3605 E. Broadway,
Wednesday. Conservative firebrand Mike Huckabee dubbed that day
“Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” and encouraged customers to eat there to
show support for the chain after President Dan Cathy drew controversy
for saying the company supports efforts to block gay marriage.In
the video, which runs 2 minutes, 21 seconds, Smith enters the
drive-thru, explaining that he’s ordered a free cup of water. Once the
employee hands him his cup, he lambastes her employer, calling
Chick-fil-A “a hateful corporation” and “a horrible corporation with
horrible values” that “gives money to hate groups.”Chick-fil-A restaurants have been a source of political uproar after Cathy’s statements against same-sex marriage.


In Smith’s video, the employee at the drive-through window, taken aback,
tells Smith that she’s uncomfortable being filmed. Smith does not back
off.“I don’t know how you live with yourself and work here,”
Smith says to the employee, before calling himself “totally
heterosexual” and saying there’s “not a gay in me” and “I just can’t
stand the hate.” He also says he’s “I’m a nice guy, by the way.”After he’s done talking to her, he says he thinks he “just did something really good” and “I feel purposeful.”

Roger Vogel, Chairman, President and CEO of Vante, said the decision for
Smith to step down was mutual. Vogel said he was “shocked” by the video,
which he first discovered when people emailed him a link.“We
obviously found it very disturbing,” Vogel said. “We respect everybody’s
ability to share their opinions in the public square and we have a very
diverse workforce with a diverse set of opinions. We expect employees
to behave in a professional manner that’s commensurate with their
positions, and discuss their opinions in a civil fashion. ... We thought
what he did was inappropriate.”Vogel said the company has no
stance on the gay marriage issue but has always hade a “good
relationship” with Chick-fil-A. He said the company will consider
contacting the employee Smith ambushed in an attempt to mend fences.Reached
at Chick-fil-A, the employee declined comment. Smith did not respond to
messages left via email or through the University of Arizona. UA
spokespeople did not return messages asking whether or not Smith would
continue to teach classes, although Smith’s profile was scrubbed from
UA’s faculty listings Thursday.According to his LinkedIn profile, Smith taught Valuation and Corporate Finance to MBA students last semester.

Before accepting the job at Vante, Smith worked for more than seven years at
IBM, where he was Senior Finance Manager. Smith earned a business degree
at the UA, graduating in 1999, as well as an MBA in 2007.


Here's the Video if you have not seen it yet...Oh yeah, I guess I should remind everyone that he "Is NOT Gay". His lisp was caused by being raised in a convent. I wonder if this guy regrets verbally attacking some innocent gal because of something her company owner said. No matter where you stand on this issue, what this guy did was embarrassing.


Personally, I have no problem with Gays getting married,having families or even going to church. Sounds like Gays in America are wanting to become Republicans after all. ~F37R


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