Fmr CFO on Food Stamps After Scolding Chick-Fil-A

[mbcdefg]

Former CFO on Food Stamps After Controversial Viral Video About Chik-Fil-A

By JOSEPH DIAZ and LAUREN EFFRON



gma.yahoo.com/former-cfo-food-stamps-controversial-viral-video-chik-025100850--abc-news-personal-finance.html 




A former CFO is now on food stamps after a video he posted on YouTube two and half ago criticizing Chick-Fil-A went viral and destroyed his career.



Adam Smith, 37, was the CFO of a medical device manufacturer in Arizona, until the summer 2012, when he -- and thousands of other people -- started protesting against Chick-Fil-A for the fast-food chain’s anti-gay stance.



One day, Smith decided to go through the drive-thru at his local Chick-Fil-A, where he ordered a free water -- the fast food chain offers customers free water -- and videotaped himself telling the drive-thru attendant how much he despised Chick-Fil-A.



“Chick-Fil-A is a hateful corporation,” Smith said, in part, to the drive-thru attendant. “I don’t know how you live with yourself and work here. I don’t understand it. This is a horrible corporation with horrible values. You deserve better.”



Smith then posted the video on his personal YouTube channel, but when he got back to work, he received a major shock.



“I got into work and the receptionist, the first thing, big eyes, ‘Adam, what did you do?’ ... she said, ‘The voicemail is completely full, and it’s full of bomb threats,’” Smith said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' "20/20."



Smith was fired that same day. He said at the time he was earning $200,000 annually and had over $1 million in stock options.



“It was taken when I lost my employment,” he said.



After losing his job, Smith, his wife Amy and their four children also lost their home. They were forced to sell and give away their possessions and move into an RV. A few months later, Smith found a new CFO job in Portland, Oregon. It was the fresh start he needed.



“I felt like, ‘Yeah, I got it. I am back,’” Smith said.



About two weeks later, Smith was fired from that job after his new boss discovered he was the guy from the Chick-Fil-A video. Smith told "20/20" in subsequent job interviews, he was very honest about the video and while prospective employers seemed empathetic and understanding in the end the companies would rescind the offers saying they didn’t want the distraction.



Looking back at the video now, Smith said he was emotional.



“I don’t regret the stand I took, but I regret… the way I talked to her,” he told “20/20.”



He even apologized to the drive-thru attendant he was angry with in another video posted to his YouTube channel, which also went viral. She has forgiven him. But Smith says even people who agreed with his pro-gay opinions won’t hire him.



“I think people are scared,” Smith said. “I think people are scared that it could happen again.”



Kevin O’Leary, an entrepreneur and panelist on the hit ABC show “Shark Tank,” said he always looks up potentially employees online before hiring them.



“Every time I look at hiring somebody, I go and gather their digital footprint from every source I can get,” O’Leary said. “We look at who they are online, and we actually hire them in our minds before we actually ever meet them. And so the interview process is to just prove what we have already assessed online.”



O’Leary warns that all the emails, texts, tweets, selfies and status updates we send out into the world can be career threatening.



Smith, with his spotty digital footprint, is still looking for a job nearly three years later, and has turned to meditation. He has also just written a new memoir, “A Million Dollar Cup of Water,” detailing how his public shaming led him from riches to rags and the intensive soul search for healing.



Smith said he doesn’t know if his viral video will ever go away. “It feels like it just happened,” he said.



ABC News' Nick Watt contributed to this report.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Ummmmm... You're gonna scold some 17-year-old making $8/hour slinging waffle fries, videotape it, and expect applause? Your message is misdirected, sir.

[chedifuen]

He doesn't strike me as a stable, capable leader.

[Velar Fricative]

I don't think this should haunt him for the rest of his life (and affect his family like this), but there were a million other ways that he (as a high-income CFO!) could have made his opinions known and tried to catalyze others who support his message. I think it's shitty to talk to an ordinary worker the way he did, and that does affect how people might view his judgment in other capacities. Still though, I'm sad for his family that this mistake has cost them so dearly.

[cville]

I'm SHOCKED that this coverage coincides with his "memoir" release.

[underwaterrhymes]

Lesson learned that you can take a stand against Chik-Fil-A without being an asshole to the people who earn their livelihood there.

[elleblue]

The internet never forgets.

[underwaterrhymes]

Mar 30, 2015 13:57:40 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I don't think this should haunt him for the rest of his life (and affect his family like this), but there were a million other ways that he (as a high-income CFO!) could have made his opinions known and tried to catalyze others who support his message. I think it's shitty to talk to an ordinary worker the way he did, and that does affect how people might view his judgment in other capacities. Still though, I'm sad for his family that this mistake has cost them so dearly.

I agree.

But I wonder if his leadership style isn't one of intimidation. I think it's a little strange they just googled his name two weeks after he started a new job and they found the video. Part of me wonders how he was treating his staff.

ETA - And it's not like his name is Horatio Alexander Schmitzenkoff. Adam Smith is REALLY common. Someone would have to be digging specifically to find out more information on him.

[Deleted]

When will people understand the internet doesn't forgive or forget? I often wonder this when I read the comments on various articles that require the user to login through Facebook. It displays as Firstname Lastname- Employer. And people just spout the dumbest, most flammable shit.

[penguingrrl]

Idiot. I don't know that what he did is really fireable, but it sure says something about his character.

[mbcdefg]

Mar 30, 2015 14:26:03 GMT -5 cjoy said:

Bomb threats? Jesus Christ.

Maybe they were bomb threats FOR Jesus Christ. Chick-fil-a and all. 

[Skyesthelimit1212]

Maybe it's just me, but I find it difficult to believe that he didn't know about Flick a Chick's homophobic feelings. I'm not sure what he was hoping to accomplish by yelling at a kid who hands the food out the window of the drive-thru. Plus did he really think that NO one was going to see the video?? I think he went a little whack-a-doo.

[ttt]

Is it that hard to understand why someone who videotapes himself harassing a drive-thru fast food worker and posts it on the internet himself for everyone to see wouldn't be anyone's first choice for an important position?

[pixy0stix]

He seems unhinged.

[pixy0stix]

I want to know how it blew up so quickly. The internet works fast, but usually not that fast.

[meshaliuknits]

Mar 30, 2015 14:28:58 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Mar 30, 2015 14:26:03 GMT -5 cjoy said:

The video was out of line, but DAMN. The internet needs to calm. the. fuck. down. Do we really need to destroy people's lives over this shit? Bomb threats? Jesus Christ.

he is a man, so the rape/murder threats were useless here

I shouldn't find this as funny as I do.

[underwaterrhymes]

I love Jon Stewart.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/jon-stewart-chick-fil-a-adam-smith-video_n_1755485.html

[EloiseWeenie]

Didn't we talk about him when this happened? I believe the consensus then was that he was WAAAAYYYY out of line.

[msmerymac]

Unhinged or not, I don't think I've ever seen this video, or if I have, I've completely forgotten about it. So writing a BOOK about his experiences, while perhaps a winning move in his next career in self-help, seems to just be dredging it all up all over again.

[ttt]

Also can't his wife get a job instead?