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Do Bus Drivers Need 60 Days to Recover From Being Spit On?
By
John Del Signore
Published May 24, 2010
Modified May 24, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 24, 2010
Modified May 24, 2010
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If someone came up to you right now at work and spat on you, how much time do you think you'd deserve off of work—assuming you didn't just up and quit, because they surely don't pay you enough to be a human spittoon? Well, if you're a city bus driver, you're probably going to need at least a month or two to pull yourself together. According to Joe Smith, the senior vice president of buses for NYC Transit, bus drivers who were spat on by riders got an average two months paid time off last year. Too much, or not enough?
Getting spit on is deeply unsettling, and it's something you never forget. But as part of an agency-wide effort to cut back on paid sick time and excessive overtime abuse, MTA brass is going to be looking carefully at how much time bus drivers take off post-expectoration. In 2009, 51 drivers took an average 64 paid days off after being spit upon, which is classified as assault.
"I don't envy anyone [who is spat upon]... but you have to wonder if you can go home and shower off, take a nap, take off the rest of the day and maybe the next day," MTA board member Nancy Shevell said at a recent meeting. "When it gets strung out for months, you start to wonder."
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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