Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No.
8633
SECOND DIVISION Docket No. 8409
2-WP-FO-'81
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Rodney E. Dennis when award was rendered.
( International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers
Parties to Dispute:
( Western Pacific Railroad Company
Dispute: Claim of Employes:
1. That under the current agreement Firemen and Oiler, Velma M. Smith, was
unjustly suspended from the service of the Carrier, from August
17,
1978
through September
5, 1978.
2. That accordingly, the Carrier be order to:
To compensate the aforesaid employee for all time lost from August
17,
1978
through September
5, 1978,
at the pro-rata rate of the position
she held at the time she was suspended.
Findings
The Second Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all
the evidence, finds that:
The carrier or carriers and the employe or employes involved in this dispute
are respectively carrier and employe within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act:
as approved June 21,
1934.
This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute
involved herein.
Parties to said dispute waived right of appearance at hearing thereon.
Claimant, V. M. Smith, a laborer in carrier's employ at Stockton, California,
was charged with insubordination. She was alleged to have refused a direct order
to clean the rest room facilities for the Engineers' Register Room. She was removed
from service pending an investigation into the matter. A hearing was held and at
its conclusion, claimant was assessed a discipline of time held out of service. That
equals two weeks' suspension.
The organization argued that claimant's action of refusing to clean the
Engineers' rest room was not an act of insubordination, but only a temporary
refusal to protest the fact that she had to clean a male rest room with no
protection from men coming in and using the facility while she was cleaning.
Carrier argued that she refused a direct order. That is insubordination and
cannot go unpunished.
Foam 1
Page 2
Award No.
8633
Docket No. 8409
2-WP-FO-'81
It is the opinion of this board that carrier acted properly in this situation.
A two-week suspension was not inappropriate. Claimant was obviously disturbed
because she was directed not to use the Engineers' rest room, but rather to use
a rest room in another part of the facility set aside for women. The record
reveals that the women's rest room was not in very good shape. Apparently,
claimant did not like to use it.
This board is mindful of the problem a female employe may have working in an
all-male setting. Carrier should also be sensitive to such problems. But this
board cannot condone insubordination on the part of employes who wish to draw the
attention of authorities to certain problems. To allow such action, regardless
of the merits of the cause, would be to encourage industrial chaos.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
Attest: Executive Secretary
National Railroad Adjustment Board
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
By
ZA~
0semarie Bra-sch Adminiit-rative Assistant
semarie
Date at Chicago, Illinois, this 25th day of February, 1981.