Job Terminated, New Rochelle Senior Cries Age Discrimination

Dignity. That is all Vincenzina Benedetto wants.

The 79-year-old New Rochelle resident feels she wasn't treated with respect when her employer—the Davenport Club—stopped scheduling her to work dinners and parties.

"I cannot tell you how this has devastated me," she said. "I want to decide when to stop working."

Benedetto, who is known to most people as Vini, has been a fixture at the Davenport Club for 27 years, waiting tables, among other things.

On June 3—a Monday—she was at the home of her daughter, Lucy Benedetto, in Mahopac. The elder Benedetto called the Davenport Club to let them know where she could be reached when the work schedule for the upcoming week—which usually comes out on Wednesday—was finalized.

Vini Benedetto said she was told that the schedule was already finalized and that her services would not be required.

Lucy Benedetto took over the phone when she saw the disappointment in her mother's face.

"I asked what was wrong," Lucy Benedetto said, and was told by Laura Rossi (the scheduler) that her mother would soon be 80 and was taking care of two sons who are ill and that was putting a strain on her.

Two weeks prior to that phone call, Vini Benedetto had asked for one evening off to be able to attend a family function.

"I was told that I couldn't because they needed me," Vini Benedetto said. "They said they were very busy, so I did not attend my family event," out of a sense of loyalty to the Davenport Club.

During the second week of June, Lucy Benedetto said she called the Davenport Club and spoke with Joe Rossi Sr., of Rossi Family and Forum Catering, who employs the catering staff.

Lucy Benedetto said Rossi Sr. asked if Vini was on vacation and told her he had to hire new people to replace her.

After explaining what transpired during the conversation with Laura Rossi, Lucy Benedetto said she was told he would speak with Laura Rossi and have her contact Vini Benedetto with the schedule.

"Well, that week I never received a call for work," Vini Benedetto said.

New Rochelle Patch contacted Joe Rossi Sr. Friday, July 12. He said he couldn't talk because he was handling an event, but asked for contact information. Rossi Sr., or anyone else from the Davenport Club, has not returned the call.

Vini Benedetto said she went to the club to speak with Rossi Sr. in person. She said he said he knew why she was there.

"He said to me, 'Vini, you are going to be 80 years old. Do you still need to work?'," she said.

"I was humiliated and saddened because of the way he spoke to me," Vini Benedetto said.

The mother and daughter met with a human rights aide at the Division of Human Rights in Peekskill, and the aide asked them to start gathering evidence for a possible age-discrimination suit, including letters of support.

Phillis Maucieri, the executive director of the New Rochelle Office for the Aging, said in a letter to Frank Conroy, president of the Davenport Club, that she met with Vini Benedetto on June 24.

"She was very upset and in tears because her employer 'kicked her to the curb'," Maucieri wrote.

"On behalf of Mrs. Benedetto and the senior community, I find it unacceptable that the cause for her termination was based on age," she wrote. "It is also against the law. After 27 years of service, I believe Mrs. Benedetto deserved better."

Bronx resident Donna Dorsey worked for 25 years alongside Vini Benedetto at area clubs, including the Davenport.

"It think it's sad," Dorsey said. "She is a good worker. Yes, she is getting older, but she keeps up."

Dorsey said Benedetto loved working and it was her outlet to get out of the house and be around people.

"It (the Davenport) was like a home away from home," she said.

Dorsey feels the situation could have been handled much better, if true.

"After working for somebody for so long," she said, "they could have sat her down and talked to her."

Vini Benedetto said she does not want to go back to the Davenport Club after the way she feels she's been treated, but will continue speaking out.

"It's for my dignity," she said. "I don't want to be thrown out like a dog."

CLARIFICATION: This article has been modified from the originally published version to say the Rossi Family and Forum Catering employs the catering staff, not the Davenport Club.