“Undercover Boss” Gets Emotional
Rick Arquilla, the president and COO of the plumbing and drain cleaning company Roto-Rooter, went undercover and saw the dirty part of his employees’ jobs – and revealed emotional parts of his own past – on Sunday’s “Undercover Boss.”
“This is probably more than I had bargained for,” the executive admitted after cramming a power water hose down a pipe leaking raw sewage in a New Orleans parking lot. When his co-worker, Chris, stepped away from the scene for a few minutes, Arquilla stopped working. Chris was surprised by his colleague’s lack of work ethic.
The revelation that Chris was a recovering alcoholic caused an emotional reaction for Arquilla, who admitted that his father, who had once worked on the factory floor at a Roto-Rooter plant, also battled alcoholism but died before he could turn his life around.
Read the full story on CBS News
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Des Moines Rotor-Rooter welder on ‘Undercover Boss’
Dan Nicholson spends his days garbed in heavy protective gear, enduring sweltering temperatures while melding metal together for machine frames.
The 48-year-old is a welder at Roto-Rooter, the plumbing and drain cleaning service founded in Des Moines 75 years ago.
On Feb. 12, Nicholson was asked to teach Hank, a newbie, how to wield a fiery torch. He was up to the challenge — the Indianola native has trained six welders during his 13 years at the company.
But things were different with Hank.
“I had a real hard time teaching Hank how to weld. I told him that I had an easier time teaching my kids how to weld,” he said, adding that he taught his own brood when they were just 8 and 12 years old.
What Nicholson didn’t know is that Hank was really Rick Arquilla, president and COO of Roto-Rooter.
“I had no idea he was a white collar worker,” Nicholson said.
Read the rest of the story on Des Moines Register
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