The NYPD's carte-blanche to beat up New Yorkers without fear of serious punishment apparently applies even when they're not on duty—and their victim is a fellow public servant. The cop who's charged with tackling and pulling the hair of an MTA worker on a subway platform avoided felony charges for the December assault, and the MTA union is pissed.

As anyone who's encountered the inescapable signs and bus announcements knows, assaulting an MTA worker is a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. NYPD officer Mirjan Lolja, who allegedly attacked Fatima Futa because he was upset about waiting for the D Train, got a misdemeanor with a maximum one-year sentence.

MTA workers union president John Samuelsen vented about the "despicable" discrepancy to the New York Daily News on Friday. What would happen, Samulsen asked, if a male MTA worker jumped on a female cop?

"There is a glaring disparate treatment at play with New York's criminal justice system when a police officer is allowed to brutally assault a uniformed TWU Local 100 conductor and walk away with what amounts to a slap on the wrist," said Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen.

"Had one of our conductors viciously assaulted a uniformed female police officer, an arrest would have occurred immediately, and that conductor would be facing substantial felony charges.

"It's despicable," Samuelsen added, "and transit workers will not be silenced in our outrage."

But all hope is not lost: DNAinfo's Murray Weiss reports today that Joel Edouard—the cop who was caught on video stomping on a pot suspect's head in July—will be charged with assault and official misconduct.