Kidney donor: I aided boss, then was fired

A Hicksville woman who donated a kidney so her ailing boss could move up on an organ donation list has filed a complaint with the state Division of Human Rights saying that the woman repaid her by giving her the boot.

Deborah Stevens, 47, said Jacqueline Brucia, her boss at Atlantic Automotive Group in West Islip, asked her to donate a kidney on her behalf to the National Kidney Registry, a donation that meant that Brucia would get a kidney in return. But Stevens said even before she recovered from the surgery, Brucia, 61, turned on her, chiding her when she went home from work sick or when she needed to take extra bathroom breaks during the day, according to the complaint.

"You would think when she was given the gift of life, she would be filled with gratitude," Stevens said Monday at a news conference in the Carle Place office of her lawyer, Lenard Leeds.

Calls to Brucia, both at work and at home, were not returned. In a statement, Atlantic Automotive Group, which owns the chain of dealerships where Stevens and Brucia worked, said the claims are baseless.

"It is unfortunate that one employee has used her own generous act to make up a groundless claim. Atlantic Auto treated her appropriately, and acted honorably and fairly at every turn," the statement said.

Stevens said in the complaint that she donated her left kidney in August 2011 and returned to work less than a month later. Stevens said as soon as she returned from the painful and debilitating surgery, Brucia, who was recovering at home from receiving her kidney, began berating her for taking time off.

In March, Stevens' lawyers sent the company a letter detailing her discrimination complaint. The company denied Stevens' claims, the complaint says. Then in April, she was fired.

If state investigators find Stevens' complaint has merit, she can move ahead with either a state or federal lawsuit.