Most of his famed "1 percent inspiration/99 percent perspiration" was actually the sweat off the brow of the dozens of nameless lackeys he hired to "research" his ideas — By no measure should he be held up as a poster boy for hard work and perseverance.
So workers are just a bunch of lackeys in your eyes. Edison creating the incandescent light bulb is one thing. Creating the generators, coated wire companies and General Electric and then selling to the city of New York and its residents to cast aside their efficient gas lamps in favor of wires hanging down their walls was quite another story of Edison.
It's so easy to bash another man and his hard work, yet the basher clams up when asked what he or she has done that has even comes close to producing anywhere near as much value for individuals and society.
Edison had a brilliant mind, but I think may not have been very careful about some of his business partners.
He did make his share of mistakes, and I don't think he'd want us to ignore them. He seemed to consider his failures just as valuable as his successes because he learned something from them all. One of his biggest mistakes, IMHO, was failing to listen to Tesla, and persisting in the idea of trying to use DC over long distances.