Long Island woman fired after donating kidney sues for discrimination

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Long Island woman fired after donating kidney sues for discrimination

Deborah Stevens sued former boss Jacqueline Brucia and Atlantic Automotive Group after she experienced post-operative complications after donating a kidney, and requests to not carry more than 10 pounds and clearance to use the bathroom without permission were rejected. Brucia had been on the list for a kidney donation herself and moved up the list when Stevens donated.

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BY JOHN MARZULLI / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013, 9:22 PM
UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2013, 3:55 AM

Deborah Stevens is suing a former employer, who she says didn’t accommodate her after she developed post-operative complications from donating a kidney.

A LONG ISLAND woman who was fired after donating a kidney to help her ailing boss is seeking her own pound of flesh from the ungrateful employers at Atlantic Automotive Group.

Deborah Stevens has filed a discrimination lawsuit alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act that includes her former boss, Jacqueline Brucia.

Brucia immediately moved up the transplant list and received a kidney after Stevens agreed to donate her kidney to someone else.

But Stevens, 48, claims that no good deed goes unpunished, because Brucia and the Atlantic Automotive Group in West Islip refused to accommodate her after she suffered post-operative complications.

“Whereas Brucia was complimentary toward Stevens prior to the surgery, following the 2011 surgery she became hostile, curt, dismissive and unnecessarily critical of her work performance,” the suit, filed in Long Island Federal Court, alleges.

Brucia, 62, is a controller at the auto dealership - one of the largest on the East Coast - and Stevens was a clerical worker.

Stevens claims her requests not to carry piles of documents weighing more than 10 pounds and clearance to use the bathroom without permission were rejected.

Atlantic’s lawyer John Kelly said the company denies all of the allegations and accused Stevens of trying to use her good deed as a "lifetime free pass" at work.

"Ms. Stevens was disruptive, divisive, detrimental and unproductive at her job, that is why she was terminated," Kelly told the Daily News.

Stevens is seeking lost pay and unspecified monetary damages.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/woman-fired-kidney-donation-sues-ex-employer-article-1.1384677#ixzz2XY4MVEU6