Woman donates kidney to her boss, gets fired

ruby orimba

July 17, 2018 4:39 PM

She was pressured to return to work just three weeks after surgery

47-year-old Debbie Stevens, a divorced mother of two donated her kidney to help out her boss. You would think the least she could receive in return was some gratitude, but instead she was promptly fired.

The behavior of the boss in question truly seems unfathomable. Stevens now contends that she was being set up and used by her 61-year-old boss, Jackie Brucia.

When Debbie learned of Brucia’s illness and difficulty in finding a kidney donor she offered to donate her own kidney if the need arose. To which Brucia replied, “You never know, I may have to take you up on that offer.”

Back up plan

After some months Brucia called Stevens into her office and asked her if the offer for the kidney was still good. Stevens was still willing to go ahead with it.

“She was my boss, I respected her. It’s just who I am. I didn’t want her to die,” Stevens later told the media. But she now realizes that Brucia had only been “grooming her to be her backup plan.”

Stevens wasn’t a close match for Brucia, so she instead donated her kidney to someone else, so that Brucia would move up the waiting list. Eventually, Stevens’ kidney went to someone in St. Louis, while Brucia got hers from San Francisco.

Digestive problems

After the procedure, Stevens experienced serious pain, discomfort in her legs and digestive problems. However, she was pressured to return to work just three weeks after surgery.

When she finally went back to work she didn’t feel ready; even her boss was still recovering at home. Three days later, she was so sick that she had to return home.

She then received a berating call from Brucia. Her words apparently were, “You can’t come and go as you please. People are going to think you’re getting special treatment.”

Even after Brucia returned to work, Stevens got yelled at in front of co-workers all the time. When she went to visit a psychiatrist and had her lawyers send a letter to the employers, Stevens was quickly fired.

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