In this ABC News report we see Adam Smith along with his wife and family living on Food Stamps. Adam, used to be the CFO of a big time medical device company pulling down $200k per year with over $1 Million in stock options.
Not anymore.
Not after Adam decided to film himself going through the drive thru of Chik-fil-A and giving the cashier a piece of his mind. ABC News plays this as a cautionary tale. As if, look what poor Adam did to himself by posting this video online. But the thing is this, Adam was correct about everything he said about Chik-Fil-A. He was also correct to say it directly to a Chik-Fil-A employee who clearly and directly endorsed their bigoted policies by continuing to work for that company, and this is further shown when that employee - who obviously didn't lose her job - went onto Fox News to crow about how poor Adam was so sorry for what he did.
Adam actually isn't sorry for what he said about Chik-Fil-A. He was only sorry he said it to her and not their CEO.
It seems completely lost on ABC that the real horror is why Adam lost his job in the first place. It was because bigoted anti-gay activist Terrorized That Company With Bomb Threats.
http://www.rawstory.com/...
In the 2012 video, which Smith has since taken down, the former executive for a medical device manufacturer bullied a Chick-fil-A cashier over her company’s anti-gay policies after chief operating officer Dan T. Cathy made statements opposing same-sex marriage.
Smith filmed himself pulling up to the drive-thru window where he told the cashier, “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.”
According to Smith, the day after he posted the video, he arrived at work only to be stopped by the receptionist.
“The receptionist, first thing, big eyes, said ‘Adam, what did you do? The voice mail is completely full, and it’s full of bomb threats,’ ” he explained.
It seems to me that Adam dressing down a drive thru clerk is a pretty mild thing compared to calling up a company and threatening to BOMB THEM. Adam's then company asked he leave, he said no, and as a result he was
fired and hence lost his stock options. He got another job forcing his family to move from Arizona to Portland Oregon only to have them find out about the video a week and also fire him.
It's now 3 years later, and he's been going into interviews leading with the video just to get it out of the way in full disclosure. No one will hire him.
He's talented. Graduated Top of his Class in Business School, but simply because he was factual with a Chik-Fil-A employee he's out on his ear, but she still has a job and Chik-Fil-A is still functioning as a company just fine. He's not even gay, he was just standing up for the basic principle of Equal Rights.
When Phil Robertson was temporarily suspended by A&E for his anti-gay remarks, the right-wing was livid about the affront to his free speech rights. This situation is far worse because it's been going on for years now, and apparently ABC thinks it's just a cute lesson to be learned from posting a viral video.
No, It's really not.
This is an example of how Americans don't have the freedom they think they have. This is an example of how Domestic Terrorists can ruin a man's life and leave his family near destitute. This isn't funny, not even a little bit.
5:30 PM PT: Here's his original video. He talks to her for less than a minute.
His apology video.
Rachel responding to the apology on Fox.
Fox Gloating about Adam's continued misfortune on Red Eye
5:39 PM PT: Post script: http://money.cnn.com/...
Since Smith's story was featured on the ABC show 20-20, he's been contacted by numerous businesses willing to talk to him about a job.
"I'm walking taller these days with a little more hope that food stamps soon won't be the only way to feed my family," he said. "I know I'll be employed soon."
5:43 PM PT: On Chik-Fil-A's Donations, which was the main reason for Adam's protest and the main point he brought up at the window.
http://thinkprogress.org/...
As Chick-fil-A’s corporate foundation came under heavy criticism last year for its long record of anti-LGBT behavior, the company attempted to distance itself from its political record, claiming it intedend “to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
But despite suggestions by some that the company’s WinShape Foundation had already scaled back its anti-LGBT giving before that point, its newly released annual IRS filings for 2011 indicate nothing of the sort.
Most of the WinShape’s anti-LGBT giving in previous years went to groups like the Marriage & Family Foundation ($1,188,380 in 2010), the Fellowship Of Christian Athletes ($480,000 in 2010), and the National Christian Foundation ($247,500). Additionally, the group made small donations to the “ex-gay” group Exodus International ($1,000) and the hate group Family Research Council ($1,000).
In 2011, the group actually gave even more to anti-LGBT causes. Its contribution to the Marriage & Family Foundation jumped to $2,896,438 and it gave the same amount to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and National Christian Foundation as it had in 2010. In total, the anti-LGBT spending exceeded $3.6 million — almost double the $1.9 million from the year before.