On the surface, this case gives new meaning to "boss from hell."

According to papers filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights, employee Deborah Stevens worked for the billion-dollar Atlantic Automotive Group (AAG) dealership. When she learned her supervisor, Brucia, needed a kidney transplant, she volunteered hers.

Although her kidney didn't prove a match, they worked out an arrangement where Stevens donated her kidney and this elevated Brucia on the donor list and she received a timely transplant.

After the surgery, Brucia said "thanks more than I can ever say." However, the prior positive work relationship disintegrated. According to Stevens, the boss who formerly praised her and to whom she'd given a life-saving gift "started treating me horribly, viciously, inhumanely."

On a day when supervisor Brucia was home recuperating and Stevens left work because she felt ill, Stevens said Brucia called her asking, "Why aren't you at work? You can't come and go as you please." In later encounters, Stevens said Brucia added, "don't expect to be treated special because of what you did for me."

When Stevens told Brucia about her continuing medical issues, Brucia allegedly responded, "I don't care; sounds like a personal problem." Stevens said when she cried, Brucia sent her out of the office.

When Stevens contacted the company's human resources department officer, Jeff Peck, she reported Peck confirmed her co-workers felt Brucia was "torturing" her. Peck convened a meeting between Brucia and Stevens. At this meeting, Brucia critiqued Stevens' work performance. Stevens alleged Peck told Stevens the situation was "too personal." Later, Stevens said she heard that although she was a great employee, the company stood behind her manager.

Gradually, supervisor Brucia removed Stevens' responsibilities, ultimately demoting her by banishment to a high-crime dealership informally called "Siberia," 50 miles from her home. This added 100 miles of commute time to an already pressured working mom and gave her a new boss who said "here come the fake tears" when Stevens cried.

Stevens sought psychiatric and legal advice. Shortly after Stevens' attorney sent a letter to AAG concerning Stevens' mental stress, they offered Stevens a return to her former work location but then fired her. Stevens plans to sue AAG for disability-related discrimination and retaliation.

This situation, which appears wrong on so many levels, inspires the desire to hang a company that didn't adequately accommodate a medically challenged employee who had given so much to a supervisor. Further, it illuminates traps employees and employers may fall into.

Read the original:
Lynne Curry: Draw line between personal, work lives