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Arizona business executive fired for video criticizing Chick-fil-A

Arizona business executive fired for video criticizing Chick-fil-A

TUCSON, Ariz. — A Tucson businessman was fired from his job on Thursday after posting a video online of himself in a Chick-fil-A drive-thru the day prior, in which he voiced his opposition to the company’s CEO and the chain’s financial support of anti-gay organizations.

Adam Smith, the Chief Financial Officer at Vante, a Tucson medical manufacturing company, on his own personal time and with no connection to his employer, filmed a video “protest” of Chick-fil-A and posted it to his YouTube account.

In the brief video — filmed Wednesday on the national Chick-fil-A “appreciation day” in which marriage equality opponents turned out in droves to support the anti-gay restaurant chain — Smith orders a free water at the drive-thru, and proceeds to tell the Chick-fil-A server his opinion of the company.

Watch:

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Roger Vogel, CEO of Vante, was quick to distance his company from Smith, and said, “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,” the company said, in a statement.

“We hope that the general population does not hold Mr. Smith’s actions against Vante and its employees.”

“We do not expect our executives to behave that way,” Vogel told KVOA-TV. “We expect them to be professional and civil.”

Smith previously taught as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Arizona but does not currently hold a position with university.

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