Debbie Stevens fired kidney
Debbie Stevens, 47, from Long Island, New York, offered her organ to her boss Jackie Brucia, 61, after she said she was struggling to find a donor.
Stevens has now filed a legal complaint at the Human Rights Commission in New York claiming that the woman used her and then fired her, the New York Post reported.Distressed: Debbie Stevens, a 47-year-old mother of two, offered her boss her kidney as she is 'a naturally kind and generous person'. But her generosity backfired when she was fired, she claims
Stevens said: 'I feel very betrayed. This has been a very hurtful and horrible experience for me.
'She just took this gift and put it on the ground and kicked it.'
The divorced mother of two worked for Brucia at the billion-dollar Atlantic Automotive Group, which runs car dealerships in New York.
After two years working as a clerical worker, she left the company in June 2010 and moved to Florida - but returned for a visit a few months later.
During a conversation with Brucia, the boss discussed her health problems and 'her need for a kidney transplant', the complaint papers claim.
Stevens said that Brucia had found a possible donor - but she offered her own 'because she was naturally a kind and generous person'.'Calculating': Brucia, with the owner of her car dealership company, John Staluppi, allegedly pressurised Stevens into returning to work after the operation - and complained when she took days off
Brucia said: 'You never know, I may have to take you up on that offer one day,' the papers say, as reported in the Post.
When Stevens decided to return to Long Island soon after and asked Brucia for her job back, she agreed and was back within weeks.Just two months later, Brucia approached her employee and said her donor had been denied and asked whether she would still be willing to donate her own kidney, Stevens said.
'She was my boss, I respected her,' Stevens told the Post. 'It’s just who I am. I didn’t want her to die.'
According to the papers, Brucia had been 'apparently grooming her to be her "backup plan".'
Even though Stevens did not prove to be a perfect match for her boss, she donated her kidney to a transplant group so that Brucia could get her organ from someone else in the group.
In August 2011, she underwent the surgery which floored her, leaving her with pain in her legs and digestive problems, she said.Workplace: Stevens was working as a clerical assistant for Atlantic Automotive group in West Islip, New York (pictured), when she offered her kidney to her ailing boss
She added that she felt pressurised to go back to work and could not cope after three days, so returned home, much to the annoyance of her boss.
‘You can’t come and go as you please,' her boss allegedly said. 'People are going to think you’re getting special treatment.'
Brucia allegedly began yelling at Stevens for her mistakes, before she was demoted to a dealership 50 miles from her home.
Her lawyers wrote a letter to the company and Stevens was promptly fired, according to the papers.
Brucia's husband James said the claims were 'far from the truth', but would not go into further details.
Stevens' lawyer, Lenard Leeds, said he will file a discrimination suit against the company and would seek millions of dollars in compensation.
A mum-of-two says has spoken of her 'betrayal' after she donated a kidney to help save her boss's life - who she claims then contributed to her being fired. “I decided to become a kidney donor to my boss, and she took my heart," Debbie Stevens reportedly sobbed to New York Post. “I feel very betrayed. This has been a very hurtful and horrible experience for me. She just took this gift and put it on the ground and kicked it." According to papers filed last week with the Human Rights commission, Stevens claims that Automotive Group company controller Jackie Brucia had been “apparently grooming her to be her ‘backup plan’”. Although Brucia had seemingly found a possible donor, 47-year-old Stevens told the newspaper that she would be willing to give her kidney if needed, “because she was naturally a kind and generous person”. Having left the company to move to Florida during the summer of 2010, Stevens called in at her old workplace that September and discussed Brucia’s health problems and "her need for a kidney transplant," the papers detail. “Brucia . . . told her, ‘You never know, I may have to take you up on that offer one day,’” the documents apparently record. Shortly after, Stevens moved back to the area from Florida and − having asked Brucia if she could come back to work at her old company − returned to AAG within weeks. Just two months later, Stevens claims that her magnanimous offer was called in after Brucia’s donor was denied. Recounting that Brucia had asked her whether she was serious, Stevens told The Post: “I said, ‘Sure, yeah.’ She was my boss, I respected her. It’s just who I am. I didn’t want her to die." However, while she came close to being a donor match for Brucia, Stevens was not a perfect one. But doctors still agreed to allow Stevens to donate her left kidney to someone else in the transplant group so that Brucia could move up the waiting list to receive an organ from another source. “I felt I was giving her life back," Stevens said. “My kidney ended up going to St. Louis, Missouri, and hers came from San Francisco.” Following surgery last August, Stevens returned to work in early September while her boss was still recovering at home. Saying that she felt pressured to go back in before she was ready, Stevens said she did not appreciate the serious pain, discomfort in her legs and digestive problems she would suffer after the procedure. But when she took three days off ill after Brucia had returned, Stevens claims that the beneficiary of her generosity actually called her from home to tell her off. “She . . . said, ‘What are you doing? Why aren’t you at work?’ I told her I didn’t feel good,’’ Stevens told The Post. “She said, ‘You can’t come and go as you please. People are going to think you’re getting special treatment.’” Stevens also claims that Brucia would bawl at her in front of colleagues over alleged mistakes, following her recovery. Adding that her office and overtime were eventually taken away, Stevens told the newspaper that she was also sidelined to a dealership 50 miles from her home in a high-crime area nicknamed ‘Siberia’. Having consulted a psychiatrist after a period of “mental anguish”, Stevens’ lawyers wrote to AAG. The papers claim that Stevens was quickly fired. AAG and Brucia did not return requests to the newspaper for comments. But it was noted that Brucia was spotted outside her home on Friday getting into a limo with plastic cups and what appeared to be a bottle of pink champagne. Lucky she has a good kidney to help process the fizz if she fancies a sip...
A “kind and generous’’ Long Island mom donated a kidney to save the life of her boss — who then turned around after she got what she wanted and helped fire the poor woman, according to an explosive new legal complaint.
“I decided to become a kidney donor to my boss, and she took my heart,’’ Debbie Stevens, a 47-year-old divorced mother of two, sobbed to The Post.
“I feel very betrayed. This has been a very hurtful and horrible experience for me. She just took this gift and put it on the ground and kicked it.’’In papers filed Friday with the state Human Rights commission, Stevens charges that she was clearly set up by Jackie Brucia, 61, her once-ailing boss at the billion-dollar Atlantic Automotive Group, which operates several new-car dealerships.
Stevens said she first got to know Brucia, one of the West Islip company’s controllers, while toiling as a clerical worker for the firm starting in January 2009.
Stevens then left the company in June 2010 to move to Florida. But when she returned to Long Island for a visit that September, she stopped by the office and talked with Brucia, a discussion that included Brucia’s health problems and “her need for a kidney transplant,’’ the papers state.
Stevens told The Post that Brucia told her she’d located a possible donor, a family friend.
But “because she was naturally a kind and generous person, Stevens told Brucia that, if necessary, she would be willing to donate a kidney,’’ the document says.
“Brucia . . . told her, ‘You never know, I may have to take you up on that offer one day,’ ” the papers say.
Soon after, Stevens decided to move back to Long Island for good and asked Brucia if she could return to work there. She had a job with the company again within weeks.
Then, two months later, in January 2011, Stevens told The Post, Brucia “called me into her office and said, ‘My donor was denied. Were you serious when you said that?’ I said, ‘Sure, yeah.’ She was my boss, I respected her. It’s just who I am. I didn’t want her to die.’’
Brucia had been “apparently grooming her to be her ‘backup plan,’ ” according to the papers. But while Stevens was a close health match for Brucia, she wasn’t a perfect one. So the doctors agreed to allow Stevens to donate her left kidney to someone else in the transplant group so that Brucia could move up the waiting list and get her organ from someone else.
“I felt I was giving her life back,’’ Stevens told The Post. “My kidney ended up going to St. Louis, Missouri, and hers came from San Francisco.”
Stevens said she did not realize that she was in for serious pain, discomfort in her legs and digestive problems after the surgery on Aug. 10, 2011. She said she felt pressured to return to work Sept. 6, before she was ready — even while her boss was still recovering at home. When Stevens went home sick three days after her return, she said, Brucia actually called her from home to berate her.
“She . . . said, ‘What are you doing? Why aren’t you at work?’ I told her I didn’t feel good,’’ Stevens told The Post. “She said, ‘You can’t come and go as you please. People are going to think you’re getting special treatment.’ ”
After Brucia returned to work, she’d yell at Stevens in front of co-workers over alleged mistakes, Stevens said.
Stevens said that her office and overtime were eventually taken away and that she was demoted to a dealership 50 miles from her home in a high-crime neighborhood that co-workers jokingly called “Siberia.’’ Experiencing mental anguish, she consulted a psychiatrist. and her lawyers wrote a letter to the company — after which Stevens was quickly fired, the papers state.
Brucia did not return phone calls from The Post. She was spotted outside her Babylon home Friday getting into a limo with plastic cups and what appeared to be a bottle of pink champagne.
Yesterday, her husband, James, told a reporter the claims were “far from the truth’’ but declined to say how. “She didn’t fire anybody,’’ he only said.
AAG also did not return a request for comment.
Stevens’ lawyer, Lenard Leeds, said he plans to file a discrimination lawsuit against AAG, and would likely seek millions of dollars in compensation.
Another lawyer for Stevens, Jason Barbara, added, “[Brucia] turns on her, and she should have been kissing her feet.’’
Still, Stevens said, “I have no regrets I donated a kidney because it saved the life of a man in Missouri.’’
Stevens has now filed a legal complaint at the Human Rights Commission in New York claiming that the woman used her and then fired her, the New York Post reported.Distressed: Debbie Stevens, a 47-year-old mother of two, offered her boss her kidney as she is 'a naturally kind and generous person'. But her generosity backfired when she was fired, she claims
Stevens said: 'I feel very betrayed. This has been a very hurtful and horrible experience for me.
'She just took this gift and put it on the ground and kicked it.'
The divorced mother of two worked for Brucia at the billion-dollar Atlantic Automotive Group, which runs car dealerships in New York.
After two years working as a clerical worker, she left the company in June 2010 and moved to Florida - but returned for a visit a few months later.
During a conversation with Brucia, the boss discussed her health problems and 'her need for a kidney transplant', the complaint papers claim.
Stevens said that Brucia had found a possible donor - but she offered her own 'because she was naturally a kind and generous person'.'Calculating': Brucia, with the owner of her car dealership company, John Staluppi, allegedly pressurised Stevens into returning to work after the operation - and complained when she took days off
Brucia said: 'You never know, I may have to take you up on that offer one day,' the papers say, as reported in the Post.
When Stevens decided to return to Long Island soon after and asked Brucia for her job back, she agreed and was back within weeks.Just two months later, Brucia approached her employee and said her donor had been denied and asked whether she would still be willing to donate her own kidney, Stevens said.
'She was my boss, I respected her,' Stevens told the Post. 'It’s just who I am. I didn’t want her to die.'
According to the papers, Brucia had been 'apparently grooming her to be her "backup plan".'
Even though Stevens did not prove to be a perfect match for her boss, she donated her kidney to a transplant group so that Brucia could get her organ from someone else in the group.
In August 2011, she underwent the surgery which floored her, leaving her with pain in her legs and digestive problems, she said.Workplace: Stevens was working as a clerical assistant for Atlantic Automotive group in West Islip, New York (pictured), when she offered her kidney to her ailing boss
She added that she felt pressurised to go back to work and could not cope after three days, so returned home, much to the annoyance of her boss.
‘You can’t come and go as you please,' her boss allegedly said. 'People are going to think you’re getting special treatment.'
Brucia allegedly began yelling at Stevens for her mistakes, before she was demoted to a dealership 50 miles from her home.
Her lawyers wrote a letter to the company and Stevens was promptly fired, according to the papers.
Brucia's husband James said the claims were 'far from the truth', but would not go into further details.
Stevens' lawyer, Lenard Leeds, said he will file a discrimination suit against the company and would seek millions of dollars in compensation.
“I decided to become a kidney donor to my boss, and she took my heart,’’ Debbie Stevens, a 47-year-old divorced mother of two, sobbed to The Post.
“I feel very betrayed. This has been a very hurtful and horrible experience for me. She just took this gift and put it on the ground and kicked it.’’In papers filed Friday with the state Human Rights commission, Stevens charges that she was clearly set up by Jackie Brucia, 61, her once-ailing boss at the billion-dollar Atlantic Automotive Group, which operates several new-car dealerships.
Stevens said she first got to know Brucia, one of the West Islip company’s controllers, while toiling as a clerical worker for the firm starting in January 2009.
Stevens then left the company in June 2010 to move to Florida. But when she returned to Long Island for a visit that September, she stopped by the office and talked with Brucia, a discussion that included Brucia’s health problems and “her need for a kidney transplant,’’ the papers state.
Stevens told The Post that Brucia told her she’d located a possible donor, a family friend.
But “because she was naturally a kind and generous person, Stevens told Brucia that, if necessary, she would be willing to donate a kidney,’’ the document says.
“Brucia . . . told her, ‘You never know, I may have to take you up on that offer one day,’ ” the papers say.
Soon after, Stevens decided to move back to Long Island for good and asked Brucia if she could return to work there. She had a job with the company again within weeks.
Then, two months later, in January 2011, Stevens told The Post, Brucia “called me into her office and said, ‘My donor was denied. Were you serious when you said that?’ I said, ‘Sure, yeah.’ She was my boss, I respected her. It’s just who I am. I didn’t want her to die.’’
Brucia had been “apparently grooming her to be her ‘backup plan,’ ” according to the papers. But while Stevens was a close health match for Brucia, she wasn’t a perfect one. So the doctors agreed to allow Stevens to donate her left kidney to someone else in the transplant group so that Brucia could move up the waiting list and get her organ from someone else.
“I felt I was giving her life back,’’ Stevens told The Post. “My kidney ended up going to St. Louis, Missouri, and hers came from San Francisco.”
Stevens said she did not realize that she was in for serious pain, discomfort in her legs and digestive problems after the surgery on Aug. 10, 2011. She said she felt pressured to return to work Sept. 6, before she was ready — even while her boss was still recovering at home. When Stevens went home sick three days after her return, she said, Brucia actually called her from home to berate her.
“She . . . said, ‘What are you doing? Why aren’t you at work?’ I told her I didn’t feel good,’’ Stevens told The Post. “She said, ‘You can’t come and go as you please. People are going to think you’re getting special treatment.’ ”
After Brucia returned to work, she’d yell at Stevens in front of co-workers over alleged mistakes, Stevens said.
Stevens said that her office and overtime were eventually taken away and that she was demoted to a dealership 50 miles from her home in a high-crime neighborhood that co-workers jokingly called “Siberia.’’ Experiencing mental anguish, she consulted a psychiatrist. and her lawyers wrote a letter to the company — after which Stevens was quickly fired, the papers state.
Brucia did not return phone calls from The Post. She was spotted outside her Babylon home Friday getting into a limo with plastic cups and what appeared to be a bottle of pink champagne.
Yesterday, her husband, James, told a reporter the claims were “far from the truth’’ but declined to say how. “She didn’t fire anybody,’’ he only said.
AAG also did not return a request for comment.
Stevens’ lawyer, Lenard Leeds, said he plans to file a discrimination lawsuit against AAG, and would likely seek millions of dollars in compensation.
Another lawyer for Stevens, Jason Barbara, added, “[Brucia] turns on her, and she should have been kissing her feet.’’
Still, Stevens said, “I have no regrets I donated a kidney because it saved the life of a man in Missouri.’’