surviving in the office? that's the real shark tank. >> tonight on an all-new "20/20." occupational hazards. american apparel's dov charney. the poster child for outrageous workplace behavior. the butt of jokes on "snl." >> you know what? sue me. >> can he pull off the biggest comeback ever? >> i'm not crazy. i'm not. plus, showdown at the fast

food window. >> this is a horrible corporation. >> the video he posted that got him fired. >> you filmed it and posted it. >> and, going out with a bang. >> as for this job, well, i quit. >> you said the f-word! >> posting your resignation for the whole world to see. tonight, occupational hazards. here's david muir. >> good evening, elizabeth is off tonight. we start with the exclusive interview, the man behind american apparel. some say their ads crossed the line, and the ceo did tonight, he's fighting back here.

whose side will you be on? gio benitez with the interview. >> reporter: it's a sunny day in california. i journey to this castle to meet a banished prince. how are you? >> nice to see you. >> reporter: his name is dov charney, one of the most controversial and outrageous executives in corporate america. is this were you get your inspiration from? this view here? actually, make that ex-executive. see, dov was unceremoniously ousted last year from the garment giant "american apparel." >> ousted by the board after being terminated by a unanimous board decision. >> reporter: and now, for the first time, he's ready to talk about it. this is everything. no holds barred here. this ten-bedroom bachelor pad doesn't look like the home of a pauper. but the exiled exec says he's flat broke. this doesn't exactly look like the kind of place where someone's who's hurting would live, huh? >> yeah. but yeah, it could hurt anywhere.

>> reporter: charney, brought us here in an effort to overcome allegations of sexual misconduct and mismanagement. "fall of the sleaze king." are you the "sleaze king?" >> i'm not the sleaze king. the sleaze king is another guy. >> reporter: covers like this aren't winning you any brownie points, are they? >> well, you know, i'm not a girl scout. >> reporter: someone we talked to said, "dov charney is very likeable. he's just not a normal human being." fair? >> was that my mother? >> reporter: that was my first taste of this man's oddball affect, and i'm not the only one who's experienced the "full charney." >> i'm not happy with something. i'm not happy with the v. i know we can do better there. >> reporter: it's a company

against every trend. paying its workers above the industry average. >> a good worker can make 13, 14 bucks an hour and their colleagues are working in sweatshops where they're paying cash for five. >> reporter: current and former employees believe he can save their company. someone said he needs us as much as we need him. >> they know who i am. and i know who they are. >> he can return to that company. >> look at all these people. they were praying for you. >> passion takes many forms. i'm touched. >> reporter: but charney is not universally adored. he's equally famous for building the brand by pushing the limits of good taste and sexual propriety when it came to marketing its clothing. so, early on you were criticized for using very young models for those ads. so we have some of the pictures

here. these that, really, some say border on kiddie porn. >> okay, but you're saying kiddie porn and you're saying young models. but our models have generally been older, you know. our, the age -- >> reporter: but made to look younger, like, with the bubblegum. >> that's made -- made to look younger is very subjective. >> reporter: looking back, though, do you think you pushed the envelope too far? >> i'm sure we pushed the envelope too far a couple times. that's why you make the next ad right away. >> reporter: by 2005 the company was growing by leaps and bounds earning $211 million in profits and by early 2007 they went public. for charney it was always about breaking boundaries and that was the driving force behind both his rise and fall. see, as the profits were piling up, so were allegations, lots of them, that his sexual enthusiasm wasn't just a marketing ploy but that it created a sexually charged, hostile work

environment. >> there is a sexual element to fashion that is inescapable. so like, to then start saying, ah, let's get scared about sex. you know, we can't mention the word sex in the workplace, i mean, it just doesn't add up. it's not right. >> reporter: what do you think your weakness is? is it women? sex? passion? what's your weakness? >> my weakness is probably not knowing what my weaknesses are at all times. >> reporter: did you ever sexually harass any employee? >> no. i've never engaged in any activities that could be characterized sexual harassment. >> reporter: and yet despite his denials, the headlines and court filings started raining down. they weren't all about sex but many were. 2005, charney is accused of "ordering the hiring of women in whom he had a sexual interest," conducting job interviews in his underwear, and giving one of the plaintiffs a vibrator. 2008, a former employee claimed charney ordered her to "pretend to masturbate." and in 2011, another former

employee accused charney of "violently" kissing her. >> has been facing lawsuits for years. >> reporter: do you know how many times you've been sued for sexual harassment? >> maybe a dozen, maybe less. >> reporter: he became so notorious even "snl" spoofed him. >> if my employees don't like it, you know what? sue me! >> reporter: the publicity you got, most notably, for that lawsuit in 2011. in that case, an employee accused you of holding her prisoner in your apartment in manhattan and forcing her to have sex with you. she sued for about $260 million. what happened in that case? >> what happened in that case? okay, it's confidential, but she lost on her sexual harassment lawsuit. >> reporter: charney admits to sleeping with employees, but says everything was consensual. >> all those accusations are crap. there's allegations, we've resolved them. none of it, none of these allegations were ever proven. >> reporter: charney says some

were settled. some dismissed. in any case, they were handled well enough for the company's board to let "dov keep being dov" for years. but then the bottom line started to bottom out. >> the experience of two, three years, yeah, we lost a couple hundred million dollars and i never thought it would be such a difficult job. >> then losses piled up and by 2013, they were hemorrhaging money. >> reporter: finally the combination of red ink and blue headlines came to a head at a fateful board meeting last year in new york when dov's head was served on a platter and six months later -- >> i finally was out at christmas 2014. >> reporter: among the charges in your termination letter, you are accused of misusing company money, violating the company's sexual harassment policy, going so far as to offer significant severance packages to numerous former employees to insure that your misconduct vis-a-vis these employees, would not subject you to personal liability. >> well, i think those accusations are completely false. >> reporter: it was an ignominious ouster for the brash entrepreneur and the press had a field day.

>> fired by the company's board of directors yesterday. >> reporter: have you ever just started crying over what's happened? >> yes. yeah. it's ridiculous. i'd been working 365 for ten years, solid, okay? built a massive brand that captured the imagination of the world and then to treat me like that, to throw me on the street, shame on them. shame on them. that's my message to them. >> reporter: but like all great american success stories, he's determined to write a second act. >> we're going to get it back. we're going to get it back. i got to be there. >> reporter: when we come back, charney takes us deeper into his home, bedroom, master bath, where he plots his return to power. >> it does make sense. >> reporter: stay with us.

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"20/20" continues with occupational hazards. once again, gio benitez. >> reporter: a few days after our first interview, dov invited us back to his fortress of solitude. >> do you want to get started now? >> reporter: to show us a most fascinating and private place, his master bedroom. >> this is a first time exclusive, abc news. i don't want to explain what

this is. this is really something we don't want to look at. >> reporter: he now calls this his "war room." the walls covered in a collage of post-it notes, articles, and random figures. >> here are my sales. i did 634 last year. >> reporter: there are rows of business cards pinned to door. even the bathroom mirror hasn't been spared. >> reporter: it's just enough to make you wonder. >> it does make sense. i'm not crazy! >> reporter: the magic and the madness which was once the heartbeat of american apparel's factory floor is now being channeled here in dov's determined, perhaps desperate attempt take back his beloved company. >> so this is what i do, this is my life. how i want to take control of the company again. >> reporter: he's cagey about how he plans to finance a takeover -- but open about his public relations strategy.

remember those adoring workers who are rallying for his return? the organizers of this demonstration directed me to this dov devotee. hola, ana, mucho gusto. a 10-year veteran seamstress. >> she calls it an injustice. she calls it an injustice that dov was taken out of his company. >> reporter: why the love for the so-called sleaze king? ana says after charney got the boot her hours were cut back. >> there's people that are just at home for weeks and weeks. furloughed. >> and i'm concerned that there'll be human tragedy if this business falls apart. >> reporter: that was "dov the compassionate." i also met "dov the persecuted." charney has long alleged that the company conspired to destroy him, citing, among other things, the suspicious leak of this notorious video, shot in an apartment rented by the company, in which the inimitable ceo dances in front of a co-worker

and a friend, wearing nothing but his custom-tailored birthday suit. charney says it hit the web just one day after dov was ousted. charney's convinced the leak must have come from the company because it was contained in an email to which they had access. >> hours after i'm fired, a personal video shot by a friend, who had not distributed it to anyone, was released in the public. it has to be connected to the company's activities. okay? so the company went as far as to release a video of me that was personal. >> reporter: and how did they get that video? >> because they had access to all of my personal affairs. >> reporter: that video went viral because people are probably asking, "who does this? >> i have my own lifestyle. you know, we're taught in school don't judge people's personal lifestyle. okay? >> reporter: now it was high time to pay a visit to the company. and meet the woman that took dov's place. bottom line, was there an underhanded plot to get charney out of here? >> no. i don't believe that at all. >> reporter: paula schneider,

newly appointed ceo. her mission -- to restore the company to profitability, to save the workers' jobs, and to distance it as far as possible from its controversial founder. >> you know, i have great respect for what he built here, but there were challenges. in the last five years, the company has lost over $300 plus million. so you know, it wasn't a financially healthy company. and my goal is to take it, turn it around. >> reporter: what exactly was dov fired for? >> dov was fired for violating our sexual harassment and our anti-discrimination policy. he was also fired for misuse of corporate assets. >> reporter: he says, "all of the claims of sexual harassment are baseless." >> that's not what came out in the findings. >> reporter: but if these >> reporter: but if these cases were true, if what these women said happened, this went on for years. >> years. >> reporter: how could that have been allowed? >> hard to understand. >> reporter: schneider says that getting the company back on track means that yes, workers like ana are now being furloughed. in some cases they are being furloughed for weeks.

>> and i feel tremendously bad about that. >> reporter: and the company is quick to point out that plenty of workers were elated by the news that charney had left the building. >> when you work at american apparel, closely with dov, you're pretty much scared all the time. >> reporter: the company directed us to this employee who did not want to show her face. >> he will yell at you, call you names, humiliate you until you feel down. broken. >> reporter: was that a common sentiment here throughout the company? >> i've heard that, and i've seen reports, i've seen h.r. reports to that effect. >> reporter: so after hearing that, we dropped in on dov one last time. the company's saying that you were hemorrhaging money. that you were just piling up debt. that you just left a big mess there. >> even the best of american companies had periods of losses. what's important here is about the go forward opportunity at american apparel. and i believe i had a good strategy to go forward. >> reporter: as for this employee's allegations? >> i think that's one person's point of view. okay? there's many different points of view. and i'm not going to get along with everybody. this is a tough environment. it's the apparel industry.

not everybody has to work at american apparel. >> reporter: but charney doesn't deny he can be a tough boss. >> we're taking over t-shirts, man. >> reporter: back in his "war room" charney showed us something. the trailer to the movie "whiplash" -- the story of a maniacal music director who has unreasonable expectations of his students. he knows the words by heart. >> do a good job. >> i'll tell you one thing, i'll push my white collar workers harder. i was combative, i was a pushy boss i was a hammer on my white collar staff. that's for sure. >> reporter: but when we asked again about those lawsuits -- dov had had enough. the new management at american apparel says there were

15 lawsuits with $6.1 million in payouts. >> look, i mean, that statement is misleading. okay, the statement that i've been told, what they've told you. they're trying to mischaracterize. you know, i won't discuss the lawsuits. it's not fair to me. it's not fair to me. it's been a [ bleep ] witch-hunt. they spent $10 million chasing me around. okay? you're talking about my sexuality, okay? i don't like it. >> reporter: so what's the future look like for the fallen fashion icon? well, the company is positive that the odds of a charney restoration are slim. actually, make that zero. >> he is not allowed to be an employee, or an officer, or ceo of the company. period, there's no option there. >> reporter: and just this week, news broke that the s.e.c. is investigating what led to his termination. how do you respond to that? >> i think for something like that is going to go straight to my lawyers. there's nothing i can say about that in this forum. >> reporter: at this point now

why would american apparel, or perhaps any company, hire you back? >> because i am a garment man. i know my business. i'm passionate. my ethics are good. i'm a great industrialist. and i'm a human being. i have faults. i've made mistakes. but i love what i do. >> reporter: before we said adios, i had one last question. it was about his bedroom walls. if you can add one more note today right here, what would you write? >> let me try it. let me take a stab at it. >> reporter: all right. >> okay. >> reporter: so there you go. "let's build american apparel into a great company together." and that's the note you would put up today? >> yeah. >> so, if you were in charge of american apparel, would you hire him back? let us know, use #abc2020. when we come back, bad behavior.

the executive in the fast food window. coming up, what did he film then post that lost him his job? >> from 200 grand a year to food stamps? >> his kids pitching in. when speaking your mind becomes a career killer. next. switch to cricket wireless this tax season... ...and get a free 4g lte smartphone after mail-in rebate. and a free month of service after completing two months on select plans. that way you can turn your tax refund into a me-fund and treat yourself to something nice - like every flavor. and every topping. you forgot the milk! that's lactaid®. right. 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can drink all you want...

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"20/20" continues, with occupational hazards. here's nick watt. >> we have milk, chicken, ground beef. >> reporter: adam and amy smith are on their weekly supermarket run in portland, oregon. >> free range chicken. >> we love your chicken and its $5.99. we'll take it. >> reporter: adam graduated top of his class at business school. a go-getter, high flyer. now he's shopping with food stamps. >> in some ways, it feels like i have completely failed.

>> reporter: from $200 grand a year, you are on food stamps? >> yeah. my voice is cracking right now. i never thought i'd be there. it's humbling. >> reporter: he's talking about his spectacular fall for the very first time. talking to us. >> we were living in a dream house. it was beautiful, on three and half acres. >> reporter: smith lost that beautiful home in tucson, arizona, after he was fired from his job as cfo of a medical device manufacturer two and half years ago. the reason? an infamous internet incident spawned by nationwide protests at chick-fil-a. >> one of the most popular fast food chains is under fire this morning. >> reporter: you may recall the kerfuffle erupted when the chicken chain's president took a public stand against same-sex marriage. >> confirming that fast food chain is the new ground zero in the culture wars over gay marriage. >> reporter: count adam smith as a casualty of that war. all because of a two minute, 20 second youtube video that started like this -- >> well, i'm waiting in line. i'm next in line.

here i go. >> reporter: smith's humbling experience wasn't caught on camera by someone else. no, he's the only person who pressed "send." >> people have to have their chick-fil-a anti-gay breakfast sandwich. >> reporter: you filmed yourself and then you made the decision. you posted it. >> i did it, yeah. >> reporter: we'll get back to smith and the details of his cautionary tale in just a minute. listen, hitting the send button, we do it all the time without really thinking. sending emails, texts, tweets, selfies, videos out into the world can be life changing, career ending. just ask these people. the school bus driver posting a beer-swilling selfie. the woman who came to the office dressed as a boston marathon bombing victim. and the naughty tenth grade math teacher, known as crunk bear, posting saucy pics and drug talk. fired, fired, fired. >> every time i look at hiring

somebody, i go and gather their digital footprint from every source i can get. >> reporter: "shark tank"'s kevin o'leary is not alone. >> most companies now, mine included, employ people that specialize in just watching what's happening on all the platforms. >> reporter: remember pr exec justine sacco? she learned that the hard way when she tweeted -- "going to africa. hope i don't get aids. just kidding. i'm white." yep, she's a pr executive. >> she kind of chuckled to herself. this was in heathrow airport. pressed send. >> reporter: but she says it was meant to be a comment on white privilege, but people didn't get the joke and the tweet went viral while she was in the air heading to africa. she had no idea. >> a hash tag started to trend worldwide, #hasjustinelandedyet. because everybody was so excited about justine landing and realizing that her life would never be the same again. >> reporter: back now to adam smith, who in the summer

of 2012, decided to protest against chick-fil-a. what's wrong with chick-fil-a, in your mind? >> they donated to anti-gay groups. >> reporter: there were anti and pro protests. now, smith got in line at his local drive through. >> there's a long line of cars i don't know if you can see. >> reporter: here's what happened -- >> you know why i'm getting a free water? >> i do not. >> because chick-fil-a is a hateful corporation. >> reporter: and then he got carried away. >> 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. >> i got emotional about it. >> and said things to the clerk that you regret? >> i don't regret the stand i took. but i regret the way i talked to her. >> i just can't stand the hate. you know? it's got to stop. it's got to stop, guys. >> reporter: smith pressed send. went to bed, woke up, went to work.

>> the receptionist, first thing, big eyes, "adam, what did you do? the voicemail is completely full and it's full of bomb threats. >> reporter: you were asked to resign? >> yeah, mm-hmm. >> reporter: he refused and was fired, losing his six-figure salary and stock options. worth? >> it was over a million dollars. >> reporter: and it's gone. >> it was taken when i lost my employment. >> reporter: the money, that beautiful home, all gone. they had to super downsize. no big house, no space for big toys. >> this is sterling helping give all we own to goodwill. >> is that your easy bake oven? is that one of your favorite toys? >> reporter: did you have a swimming pool? >> yeah, we had a jacuzzi. >> we had a spa. >> reporter: you had a jacuzzi? smith quickly apologized to the clerk he got angry with. >> i am so very sorry for the way i spoke to you. >> reporter: she has forgiven him. >> i do forgive adam smith. i think he realizes how bad of a decision it was to make that tape. >> reporter: but apparently

others have not. so, fired from one cfo job, adam applied for another 1,200 miles away in portland, oregon. he got it. the family had to move, but a job. a fresh start. i hesitate to even ask what happened next. >> it was two weeks on the job, i got called into the cfo's office. and they said that, "oh, you should have told us about the chick-fil-a video. you are fired." >> reporter: so, he started showing the so-called "chicken incident" video at job interviews to get it out in the open. rejection, rejection, rejection. >> the constant rejection that he has had going forward, it's been really brutal. >> reporter: wife amy is now the family breadwinner. this may sound silly, but change your name, dye your hair, grow a different beard. >> all things that were recommended and some of those things i tried.

>> reporter: occasionally, he'd get an offer. then, always a call or voicemail like this -- >> i just don't want to see this be a distraction or any backlash. some of the others have expressed their concern. >> reporter: adam smith, self-made man, reduced to nothing. his kids even trying to find ways out of his hell, making a "shark tank"-like pitch. >> instead of doing this, you do this! it's $15! >> $15? okay, so we should put this on tv then, huh? why would we do that? >> because we need the money and have food for our family. >> reporter: adam's son, sawyer, sees a silver lining in this. you want him to have a full time job. >> no, i don't. >> reporter: why not? >> because i want him to play. >> reporter: so, that's the benefit when he hasn't been working, he's been hanging out with you guys. most people eventually can move on from the online faux pas. justine sacco, of the off-color

aids and africa joke, eventually landed another pr job. but not adam smith. it's now nearly three years and he's still unemployed. he's turned to meditation and the wisdom of buddha. >> i am not a buddhist. i just found that to be really helpful. >> reporter: he also sent us this video of him and his kids dancing to the song "shake it off." ah, the wisdom of taylor swift. ♪ shake it off shake it off ♪ >> reporter: how long are you going to be made to pay for a mistake? >> i don't know. i do know that when you watch it for the first time -- i don't know how you live with yourself and work here. -- it feels like it just happened. >> reporter: it's always going to be there. >> you can't take it down. next, supervisor hell. >> you put me on hold and never

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here's the question for you tonight. when you call customer service, how long have you waited? and then how do they treat you? customer service without a smile, and in some cases, the customers are not very good, either. here's rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: kaneshia jenkins of houston, texas, had a problem. in order to get a refund from a company she'd have to navigate every consumer's worst nightmare, that dreaded call to customer service. >> my name is walter. i work in customer service. >> reporter: her low expectations were met and then some. >> you are not going to beat us out of our money. you people are famous for that. for stealing, lying. >> you said "you people." what do you mean by "you people?" >> that's why the prisons in texas off the black people so much with lethal injections.

we know about "you black people" because that's what takes up the jail and welfare are [ bleep ]. >> i was beyond angry. that someone could be that ignorant to speak to me on the phone. and you're supposed to be customer service. >> reporter: the good news -- the company is now out of business. the bad news -- kaneshia's experience, while extreme, is hardly unique and a growing online army of disgruntled customers is uploading their horror stories to prove it. >> are you going to let me talk to your manager? >> nah, nah, nah. >> reporter: but remember, these nasty customer service agents started out as human beings. to find out what's behind all of this hostility we called on two former service reps, mark pavlic, an ex-cable company agent and jacob curtis, who used to work for a home security company. >> you almost never have anything good happen to you at work. you know it's going to be hell from the get-go. >> reporter: these guys say the

explanation is simple. this can be one of the worst jobs in the world. dehumanizing. unrelenting. so it's no surprise that some reps lash out at their own customers. >> there's a supervisor. and the customer's like, "hey, what's your name?" "how do you spell it?" and he said, "[ bleep ] y-o-u." >> it's not an easy job. because you're trying to appease the company that you work for and then you're trying to appease the angry customer who disagrees with the policies. >> it's very emotionally draining. and it's call after call after call. >> reporter: and boy, can some of those customers be vicious. jacob posted this call on youtube of a crazed man unloading on one of the service agents. >> can i get the phone number on your account? >> why? two people asked me for your number and put me on hold and never [ bleep ] came back. if you don't put me on the phone with somebody who can [ bleep ] help me. [ bleep ] no, no, no! >> i posted it, 'cause i thought it was funny. about half the people related to

the customer. that's how frustrated people are with customer service, i think, that they're relating to a guy like that. >> reporter: but it turns out that some call center agents have their own little tricks of the trade to deal with unruly customers. for instance, there's the "supervisor shuffle." >> the company does not want you to get to the supervisor, 'cause it takes up the supervisor's resources and time. >> most likely, if you want to speak with a supervisor, you're not going to be really speaking with a supervisor. >> reporter: someone's pretending to be a supervisor? >> they have no real power over a normal customer service representative. >> reporter: according to our reps, another dirty little secret is sending difficult customers to "transfer hell." >> i don't want to be transferred! did you not hear me? >> all of a sudden, with one click of a button, "hey, i'm going to transfer you." all your problems are resolved. it's so nice to do. >> i can say that it has happened. they've transferred people back into the queue.

>> reporter: that is the worst. not only are you being transferred, but you're back on hold. >> yeah. you have to listen to mariah carey again. >> reporter: most annoying to customers, our reps say agents often aren't even really trying to help. they're actually playing the "sell game." >> you definitely spend the majority of your time trying to push something on them that they don't want pushed on them, trying to sell them something. >> reporter: that focus on sales over service was made crystal clear in this comcast service call from hell that went viral last year. >> we'd like to disconnect please. >> okay, so why don't you want the faster speed? help me understand why you don't want faster internet. >> i'm declining to state. can you please go to the next question so we can cancel our service? >> okay, i mean, i'm just trying to figure here what it is about comcast service that you're not liking. >> this phone call is a really actually amazing representative example of why i don't want to stay with comcast. so can you please cancel our service? >> okay, but i'm trying to help you. >> the way you can help me is by disconnecting our service. >> but how is that helping you though?

>> that's what i want. >> okay, so why is that what you want? >> reporter: comcast has apologized for the call and says it isn't representative of how the company trains its service agents. now, the national customer service association told "20/20" that there are many companies whose true culture is one of excellence in customer service. case in point, the online shoe vendor zappos. check out their call center in las vegas where every day is a festive, fun-filled day. here, the agents are pampered with a free snack bar and allowed to dress and decorate how they please. >> creating a happy environment lends itself to people wanting to do a good job. >> we'll be here. >> they know i'll be able help this person, i'm not going to have to tell them "no." >> reporter: yeah, right. we'll see about that. to test their system, i order a

pair of shoes from zappos and call in to customer service, posing as one of those annoying, unreasonable customers. >> how are you today? >> reporter: i'm okay, i'm just a little bit upset with the shoes i just got. >> i'm so sorry to hear that. do you want to return them? >> reporter: what i would love to do is for you to send me a better pair of shoes, and i can just keep these. >> all right, well, that would be awesome. >> reporter: so you're sending me that pair of shoes for free? >> i am. we want to make sure you have the product that you want. >> reporter: while this is obviously going way above and beyond the normal customer service experience, our former reps clued us in on another way to get what you want from less enlightened companies. >> post something on social media. facebook, twitter, whatnot. as soon as someone posted something negative there, we pretty much gave them whatever they wanted. >> reporter: now that sounds a lot less stressful for both sides of the customer service experience. >> how can you treat a customer

that way! how many people do you want me to speak to that can't help me? >> so, what are your worst customer service story let us know. use #abc2020 on twitter. we'll be right back. >> next, workers that dared to say, take this job and shove it. when occupational hazards return. next time you talk to caroline, i'll remind you. oh, and remind me to get roses when i'm near any store. sure thing. remind you when you get to store. cortana, it's gonna be a great night. oh, wow! thanks for the traffic alert. i better get going. you're making me look good. thanks, cortana. you bet. great no-contract lumia devices as low as $49.88 at walmart. it's the purple pill,

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finally tonight, a careful decision, when it's time to take a new direction at work. zayn malik, leaving his band. and when folks at the office

say, i'm done. here's chris connelly. ♪ >> reporter: who would quit the world's biggest boy band in mid-tour? he did. this week zayn malik taking his high notes and heading home for good, leaving the mega-grossing one direction. saying "i want to be a normal 22-year-old." his fans flooding social media with their heartbroken reactions. ♪ >> zayn leaving? what the [ bleep ]? >> reporter: hitting the same note as zayn? this texas school bus driver, also eager to avoid possibly overexcited young people as she got on her phone and walked off a crowded school bus. >> you need to send somebody to get this bus and these kids. i'm done. i can't take it no more. >> reporter: dramatic, and

and the consider the a new breed of employee who orchestrates his or her departure into a major media event. last year must have seemed like quitting time. in anchorage, alaska, ktva news 11 correspondent charlo greene was wrapping up her report on a medical marijuana group called the alaska cannabis club. why was this an issue that had particular resonance for you? >> well, i love weed. i love it. every single reporting job i have probably smoked right after i got off work, daily. >> reporter: charlo loves weed so much that she is the owner of the alaska cannabis club. the subject of her report. this is a situation typically referred to as a conflict of interest, not to harsh anyone's mellow. you're not really supposed to do that, are you, charlo? >> no, i have a degree in journalism. i know all about ethics. i made a choice. and i'm unapologetic in it.

unapologetic, period. i've got, like, lady balls that compare to no other. >> reporter: there could be no denying that statement. when charlo tagged her story live and her local news career went up in smoke. >> now everything you've heard is why i, the actual owner of the alaska cannabis club, will be dedicating all of my energy toward fighting for freedom and fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in alaska. and as for this job, well, not that i have a choice but, [ bleep ] it, i quit. >> reporter: so that happened. >> i knew this was going to be my exit. all of it was planned out, top to bottom, except for the "[ bleep ] it." yeah, i just spoke from my heart. i spoke my truth in that moment. >> reporter: you knew you were going to be fired. >> i knew i would be fired if i told my boss that me, the weed reporter, had a weed business. yes, of course i'd be fired. >> reporter: so you lied to him instead. >> no, i didn't lie. i omitted. >> reporter: then there's marina shifrin.

she'd put in a couple of years in taiwan at a web-based news video content provider. she'd had enough. the quitzilla urge kicked in. so around 4:00 a.m. at the office, she solo-danced her way through this so-long. ♪ now up to more than 19 million views, marina's video put that kanye west track "gone" onto the singles charts eight years after its release. in north carolina, gregory ng had found a way to supplement his income with his own web series called freezer burns. for six years and 600 episodes he reviewed frozen food until some of its sub-zero quality left a bad taste in his mouth. >> i can't do this anymore. this is horrible. we should not be feeding our kids this. we should not be eating this frozen food anymore.

i'm done with this. >> i just became angrier and angrier. i looked at the ingredient list and i didn't recognize half the ingredients. i don't know what happened. i just snapped midsentence. that became my last episode. >> reporter: and his first viral one. he's now dedicating his efforts to childhood nutrition and a local food bank. from bank back to bong. charlo green's four-letter farewell earned her an escort out of the building as ktva apologized to viewers. >> we apologize for that. >> and i went home. and everyone was like, "what? you said the f-word!" >> reporter: alaska has legalized the use of marijuana, but it's still illegal to buy or sell weed. last week, with a search warrant in hand, cops raided charlo's club and her home, seizing a couple of vehicles but making no arrests and filing no charges.

again, charlo was reporting live, this time for social media and using that word again. >> like if this doesn't scream the need for marijuana reform i don't know what the [ bleep ] does. ♪ the new, twenty-fifteen ford focus believes in "more." more to see. more to feel. ♪ more to make things really, really... interesting. ♪ the new focus. from the auto brand more people buy, and buy again. there before. i was lost, and my kids could tell.

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nude photographs of place mates and i'll go one-on-one with pennsylvania governor tom wolff and i'll go one-on-one with pennsylvania governor tom wolff next >> there's a real problem tonight at north penn "high school musical" and administrators and even police launched an investigation. students say naked pictures of girl at the