Adam Smith, the man who videotaped himself getting free water at a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru just to berate the young woman serving him has been fired.
Smith in his video said he was happy to feel “purposeful” in condemning the Chick-Fil-A employee over CEO Dan Cathy’s same-sex-marriage remarks. The video went viral, and citizen journalists tracked him down online and grabbed copies of his resume. His employer, Vante, released this statement a bit ago:
Vante of Tucson, AZ Regrets Actions of Former CFO
Employee Has Left the CompanyTUCSON, 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.
While part of me wants to fist pump and revel in this schadenfreude, another part of me hesitates to celebrate. Sure, Smith is a doucher of epic proportions, but this was an individual on his own time acting like a doucher, not while representing the company. Companies don’t own their employees’ thoughts and opinions off the clock, unless, of course, that is your previously agreed upon arrangement.
The firing of Smith doesn’t change Smith’s personality or epic rudeness. It won’t prevent him from blasting another female employee at a business whose CEO disagrees with his political views. As far as feeling celebratory, I think I’m in the clear, as conservatives didn’t call for Smith’s head like we see on the left with groups like Color of Change. No one pressured Vante. Vante, a private company, made this decision themselves and, as a private entity, have every right to do so. I support this right. The community didn’t make the decision to fire Smith – they did. This is the difference between the true belief in free speech as demonstrated by conservatives and the beliefs of progressives.
One of the most amazing things to me about the Chick-Fil-A appreciation patronage is that private citizens are waging a free market battle against progressivism. While progressives want to use government to shut down diverse thought, conservatives don’t. Conservatives will counter progressive boycotts with massive buying power, as seen yesterday. We don’t need regulations or legislation. Conservatives battled progressivism within the private sector over Dan Cathy’s free speech and conservatives won. Consider Vante’s action another free market move.