SoCal, Where Top Chefs Work 20-Hour Days and Then Sue

Los Angeles: A pair of similar chef lawsuits have hit the courts in Southern California today. Up first, Fabio Viviani—best remembered for his stint on Top Chef—claims that he worked 140 hours a week for six months (that adds up to 20-hour workdays) to open Cafe Firenze before it was the cash cow it is post-Top Chef, but he never received his promised ownership stake and proper cash. So, he's suing his old business partner for unspecified damages.

Elsewhere in LA, the leading contender for the Litigation Capital of America, a private chef named Pedro Gomez is suing his master employer, a Saudi Arabian prince based in Beverly Hills, after a decade of alleged 14-hour work days sans overtime pay or time off. The prince, who is 69 years old (oldest prince ever), recently fired this Gomez fellow, but probably the best line in the article is this: "The prince could not be immediately reached for comment." See, that's how princes roll.
· 'Top Chef' Fabio - My Old Boss Is a Jerk, Chicken [TMZ]
· Chef sues Saudi prince over onerous work schedule [AP]
[Photo of Fabio, tuckered out from those 20-hour workdays via his MySpace]