Rocco Dispirito: Elbowing His Way Into a Hall of Shame Moment

Rocco was easy to spot, since he was surrounded by TV cameras and reporters. Rather than attending to this emergency with a member of his staff, Rocco was doing yet another round of publicity. Once Gideon finally got Rocco’s attention, Rocco told him to work the phones in the downstairs office. Gideon was ready to go, when Rocco finally gave the matter more thought and decided that he didn’t need Gideon’s help after all. He told Gideon to go home and rest.

Gideon was in a state of shock. He vented to his friend Pete, “He does not want to do this to me. I fell on his floor in his shoes.” Rocco saw them talking and immediately told Pete to get to work and propelled Gideon out the door, telling him he was “a distraction.” Rocco sent him home, telling him he should be resting and alternating hot and cold on his elbow. Again, wrong –only cold, not hot should have been applied to Gideon’s injury. Rocco should have tried applying heat to all of those cold dinners rather than to Gideon’s elbow!

Gideon may have been “a distraction,” but he was a distraction Rocco needed to deal with right away. I don’t think Gideon was so determined to get to work just because he really loved running food and had a strong work ethic – the guy needed money. We already saw Gideon stand in line all night to get his job at Rocco’s. Then we saw him chug a pitcher of wine for $14. Gideon needed money anyway, and after he hurt his elbow, he was probably especially worried that he’d have to pay medical bills and would miss work.

On Gideon’s website, he says that Rocco eventually paid his medical bills. But Rocco did not pay Gideon’s bills out of the goodness of his heart, but rather because he is legally required to. I did a little research, spoke to a personal injury lawyer (who I call “Dad”) and learned a few things about workplace injuries. If you are injured on the job, your employer must pay your medical bills, regardless of whether or not your employer caused your injury. Rocco, as the owner of a business, would have known that and should have reassured Gideon when he said he didn’t have insurance. Instead, Gideon was left worrying. What’s more, Gideon shouldn’t have had to agonize so much about not being able to work while he recovered from his injury. Those same worker’s compensation laws require the employer to pay a percentage (usually one half to two thirds) of the injured worker’s salary while he is unable to work. It’s called Temporary Total Disability, and Gideon would have qualified for it, since he was unable to perform his job due to his injury. Only getting half of your paycheck might not sound very good, but because that income isn’t taxed, Gideon wouldn’t lose that much money. Gideon’s offers to tend bar, work in the coat check room, or answer phones are what is called light duty work. Rocco would not have been legally obligated to give Gideon such an alternative, but it would have been the decent thing to do. That is especially true because working at Rocco’s provided aspiring actor Gideon with the important fringe benefit of being on TV. Had Gideon been given the opportunity to do a different job, he still would have gotten some camera time. In exchange for the benefits of having his medical bills paid and getting Temporary Total Disability, Gideon would be legally unable to sue Rocco for his injuries.

We know that Rocco did pay Gideon’s medical bills, and have no reason to doubt he did pay disability wages as the law requires. But with the whole world watching, Rocco showed that he does not value his employees. Gideon languished for way too long in the restaurant before anyone sent him to the emergency room. The next morning, Rocco displayed almost no concern for his injury. Instead, he doubted Gideon’s word, even though he had absolutely no reason to. Then he had Gideon come in to work only to send him back home again. At no point did he reassure his employee that his medical bills would be paid and that he wouldn’t have to worry about lost wages. Rocco showed a total lack of compassion, concern, and kindness for Gideon’s injury. This callous attitude has landed him in the Hall of Shame.

Betsy can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com.

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