Some would call this sweet justice, some would not. Seems that fall out from the Chick-Fil-A support day continues.
First off the Video that caused this man to lose his job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPLNgkP9nzc&hd=1
The Story:
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.”
via Tucson exec loses job over anti-Chick-fil-A rant in drive-thru.
The good part about the story:
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.
I have some very mixed feelings about this; on one hand, I believe it is good that this guy got tossed, because no company wants to be associated with some idiot being a jerk. On the other hand, if he was on his own time and did this; he has one heck of a good lawsuit against the company. However based upon his dress in the video, he was most likely on his lunch break from work. Which is sort of a gray area, (or is it grey area?) and could be used against him, should he decide to sue the company.
The lesson here is this: If you are going to be a douche bag, don’t film it; because if you do and you happen to be a well-known person working for a well-known company — you might just end up out of a job. As someone who has been out for work for over eight years now; except for blogging on this site and at my former blog — I take zero pleasure in knowing that someone lost their job. It stinks, I have and still am there now. However, I really honestly have to say that this man has no one else to blame for losing his employment, except for himself.
It is a cold, hard, lesson to learn — but one that must be learned in this day and age of social media.
Update: Ah, here is a statement from the company via Marketwire:
SOURCE: Vante, Inc.
August 02, 2012 17:02 ET
Vante of Tucson, AZ Regrets Actions of Former CFO
Employee Has Left the Company
TUCSON, AZ–(Marketwire – Aug 2, 2012) – The following is a statement from Vante:
Vante regrets the unfortunate events that transpired yesterday in Tucson between our former CFO/Treasurer Adam Smith and an employee at Chick-fil-A. Effective immediately, Mr. Smith is no longer an employee of our company.
The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions, however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of civility with others.
We hope that the general population does not hold Mr. Smith’s actions against Vante and its employees.
Translation: Please don’t hate us because of our stupid former employee!
Others via Memeoradum: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The PJ Tatler, UrbanGrounds, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and Moonbattery
Regardless of our opinions about this or that there is no excuse for rudeness. If Mr. Smith had a problem with Chic-fil-A he should have taken it up with the one who made the original statement not one of his subordinates. The subordinate did not do anything to Mr. Smith. However Smith treated her as if she had. Shame on you Mr. Smith. May we all learn from your error.
I agree. Thanks for the comment!