Spit = assault to MTA

MYFOXNY.COM - Driving a bus in New York City can be a tough job. Apparently, 1,500 MTA bus drivers were assaulted in 2009 -- 51 of them got spit on.

It is disgusting for sure, considered an assault. But is it so bad a driver should get 2 years paid time off? Thanks to an MTA policy and the transit union contract, they can.

Some riders that Fox 5 spoke to may think it's nuts, but 51 bus drivers spit on in 2009 claim they were so distraught afterward that they took an average of 64 days off to recover.

One driver told Fox 5 that she was spat upon, and that it was terrible. She took off months.

"Very traumatic, upsetting, unexpected, humiliating, embarrassing," Oneshia Portlette says. Her attacker's saliva got in her mouth and eye.

The Transport Workers Union president said their members' contract allows for them to take up to two years of paid time off after being assaulted, whether they are punched, stem, or spit on.

Some MTA board members say it is an abuse of MTA money. They say that assault is too broadly defined.