ABC News catches up with Adam Smith, the Tucson CFO who destroyed his career after harassing a Chick-fil-A drive-thru worker over the company’s financial support of organizations that oppose gay rights. From the report:

Things haven’t gone too well for the former CFO who criticized Chick-fil-A in a video he posted on YouTu A former CFO is now on food stamps after a video he posted on YouTube two and half years 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.”


This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2015.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

11 replies on “Chick-fil-A Critic Still Looking for Work After Harrassing Drive-Thru Worker Over Company’s Opposition to Gay Rights”

  3. People who look for trouble generally find it. Too bad his 15 minutes of fame weren’t more lucrative. Maybe he should get butt implants.

  5. This story has been twisted in so many ways. The point was he harrassed an innocent young girl that had nothing to do with company policy. He also appeared on Wake Up Tucson and there is more to the story about him not being able to find work. And what about all the “brave” companies like Apple that call for a boycott of Indiana yet sell their products in places like Saudi Arabia (where gays are killed), why don’t they hire him if it is about “gay rights”. Scratching the surface doesn’t reveal the truth.

  6. I don’t think much of the company that fired him. Really, your employee makes one mistake and you abandon him? Unless there’s a pattern of misconduct or bad judgment, this seems disloyal.
    However, I’m sure there is plenty of work, but he’ll never be a CFO again. That’s a position that requires the highest level of responsibility and judgment and nobody is going to give him a chance if they know about this.
    Yet he’s been holding out for that $100K+ job while living on the public dole for what, a year?

  7. I wonder if this on-camera behavior is part of a pattern with him. Thoughtless, incendiary “gotcha!” posturing, especially on YouTube, does not display the soundest of judgment. If he were in charge of my money, I’d be looking elsewhere.

    No one ever said free speech was without consequences. 😉

  8. Adam learned a life lesson – words have meanings and words carelessly used have consequences – something a 37 year old executive should have learned long before and something that suggest a lack of true maturity.

    However, because of him and the others like him, I began to patronize Chick-Fil-A, as I had never eaten in one before. Now, most weeks I enjoy a lunch at the one near the Tucson Mall and I recommend it to all who enjoy a good meal, at a good price, served by good people.

  10. This guy is a loose cannon who likes to play “big man” by yelling at people who are just trying to do their job. He’s a bully who lacks maturity. And, he’s an attention whore to boot. I wouldn’t hire him. He’s unstable and unpredictable.

  11. I just heard him on talk radio in DC. If what he said about threats to him and his family are true, that’s wrong, but what’s happened to his career is perfectly fine. You’re allowed to have opinions and voice them all you want. People are also allowed to make judgments about you based on those opinions, including judgments about your judgment. This stuff happens to conservatives in Maryland all the time. We just don’t pout about it. My one question is – did he post his supposed apology on You Tube as well? He had no problem blasting them in the online world but he lacked the humility and character to apologize in the same forum. Typical liberal. Welcome to the grown up world.

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