紐約某女為救老板性命捐腎反被解雇

中國日報網 2012-04-25 08:48

N.Y. Mom Fired After Donating Kidney to Help Her Boss (ABC News)

A New York Long Island woman said she was fired after she donated a kidney to help save the life of her boss.

Debbie Stevens, a 47-year-old divorced mother of two, filed a formal complaint with the New York State Human Rights Commission last Friday, claiming her boss used her for her organ then fired her "after the woman got what she wanted." Stevens' boss, 61-year-old Jackie Brucia, is one of the West Islip controllers for Atlantic Automotive Group, a billion-dollar dealership operator. Brucia hired Stevens in January 2009 as an assistant.

"She just started treating me horribly, viciously, inhumanly after the surgery," Stevens told ABCNews.com. "It was almost like she hired me just to get my kidney." Although Stevens turned out to be less than a perfect kidney match for Brucia, Stevens donated her organ to an out-of-state stranger so that Brucia could move up on the organ donor list.

Stevens left the company in June 2010 to move to Florida. She returned to New York in September to visit her daughter, and decided to stop in at the dealership, according to the complaint. It was during this visit that Brucia told Stevens of her need for a kidney transplant.

"She said she had a possible donor, a friend or something," Stevens said. "But I told her if anything happened that I'd be willing to donate my kidney. She kind of jokingly replied, 'You never know, I may have to take you up on that one day.'"

A few months later, Stevens moved back to Long Island and asked Brucia if she had any job openings. Brucia hired her within weeks.

Then, in January 2011, Stevens said her boss called her into her office and asked if she was serious about donating her kidney.

"I said, 'Yeah, sure. This isn't a joking matter,'" Stevens said. "I did not do it for job security. I didn't do it to get a raise. I did it because it's who I am. I didn't want her to die," Stevens said.

When tests revealed that Stevens was not the best match, doctors agreed to let her give her kidney to someone in Missouri, which gave Brucia a higher place on the organ donor list.

Stevens underwent surgery on Aug. 10, 2011. She said doctors hit a nerve in her leg, causing her discomfort and digestive problems.

She returned to work four weeks later, and said that's when the problems began.

"I don't have words strong enough or large enough to describe her treatment of me," Stevens said. "Screaming at me about things I never did, carrying on to the point where she wouldn't even let me leave my desk. It was constant, constant screaming."

After consulting a psychiatrist for her mental stress, Stevens' hired attorneys who sent a letter to Atlantic Automotive Group. Stevens was fired within a week.

Stevens' attorney, civil rights lawyer Lenard Leeds, said he planned to file a discrimination lawsuit against AAG, and would likely seek millions of dollars in compensation.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

紐約長島的一名女性稱她為救上司性命捐了一個腎后，被解雇了。

黛比?史蒂文斯是一位有兩個孩子的47歲的離異母親，她上周五向紐約州人權委員會提交了一封正式控訴書，稱她的老板利用她捐出自己的器官，然后“這名女性在得到自己想要的東西后”將她解雇。史蒂文斯的老板名叫杰姬?布魯西亞，今年61歲，是大西洋汽車集團西伊斯利普控制器生產商的一員，該集團是價值過十億美元的代理商。布魯西亞于2009年1月雇用史蒂文斯做助理。

史蒂文斯告訴美國廣播公司網站說：“手術結束后她對我的態度就變得很惡劣、充滿敵意、殘忍。好像她雇用我就只是為了得到我的腎。”盡管史蒂文斯的腎對布魯西亞而言并不是最佳匹配，但史蒂文斯將她的腎捐給一個外州的陌生人，這樣布魯西亞可以在器官捐贈名單上排位靠前。

史蒂文斯于2010年6月離開公司，搬到佛羅里達州居住。據控訴書中所寫，她9月份回紐約看望女兒，決定順便去一下公司。正是這次走訪中，布魯西亞告訴史蒂文斯自己需要做腎移植。

史蒂文斯說：“她說她可能有一位捐贈人，大概是一位朋友。但我告訴她如果發生任何意外，我愿意捐出我的腎。她好似開玩笑地回答說，‘誰知道呢，也許有一天我會用上你的腎。’”

幾個月后，史蒂文斯搬回長島居住，問布魯西亞是否有工作機會。布魯西亞在幾周后就雇用了她。

2011年1月，史蒂文斯說老板將她叫進辦公室，問捐腎一事她是否是認真的。

史蒂文斯說：“我說，‘是的，當然。這可不是拿來開玩笑的。’我不是為了保住工作才這么做。也不是為了升職才這么做。我這么做是因為我的為人。我不想讓她死。”

當測試顯示史蒂文斯的腎不是最佳匹配時，醫生同意讓她將腎捐給密蘇里州的另一個人，這讓布魯西亞在器官捐贈名單上可以更靠前。

史蒂文斯于2011年8月10日做了手術。她說醫生觸及她腿上的一根神經，導致她身體不適，出現消化問題。

她四周后回去工作，據她說從這以后麻煩就開始了。

史蒂文斯說：“我沒有足夠強烈或有力的言詞來描述她對我的態度。以莫須有的罪名對我叫罵，甚至都不讓我離開辦公桌。那叫罵一直持續不斷。”

在史蒂文斯由于心理壓力太大去看了精神病醫生后，她雇用的律師向大西洋汽車集團寄了律師信。史蒂文斯在一周內就被解雇了。

史蒂文斯的律師、民權律師倫納德?里茲說他打算對大西洋汽車集團提出歧視訴訟，并將可能索賠數百萬美元。