Form 1
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
Award
No. 9973
SECOND DIVISION Locket No. 10024
2-N&W MA-' 84
The Second
Division consisted of
the regular members and in
addition Referee Paul C. Carter when award was rendered.
( International Association of Machinists and Aerospace
( Workers
A.F.L. - C. I. O.
Machinists
Parties to Dispute:
( The Norfolk and Western Railway Company
Dispute: Claim of Employes:
1. That under the terms of the Agreement, Machinist B
. L.
Doss was unjustly
given a twenty
(20)
day deferred suspension on January
7, 1981, by the Norfolk
and Western Railway Company.
2.
That the Norfolk and Western Railway Company remove the twenty (20) day
deferred suspension from Machinist B
. L. Doss service
record.
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 employes 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 was employed as a machinist at Carrier's Roanoke Shops. On October
2, 1 980, he was
notified:
"An investigation will be held in the Car Department Conference
Room, Roanoke Shops, Roanoke, Virginia, October 24,
1980
at
12:30
P.M. EDST to determine your responsibility for violation
of Safety Rule 1201. Paragraph 1, on September 11,
1980
at approximately
8:30
A.M. in that you improperly leaned a wheel against a rail
which subsequently fell resulting in an injury.
If you desire representation or witnesses please so arrange."
Safety Rule 1201, Paragraph 1, referred to in the letter of charge, reads:
"Leaving tools or material on end or leaning against walls, locomotives,
cars, or other places where they may fall or be knocked down and
cause injuries is prohibited."
Form 1 Award No. 9973
Page 2 Docket No. 10024
2-N&W-MA-' 84
By agreement, the investigation was postponed and conducted on November :L4,
1980, following which claimant was assessed discipline of a twenty-day deferred
suspension. During the
investigation, the
representative of the organization
objected to the use of a tape recorder. We do not consider such objection valid. See
our Award No. 9969. Various other objections were made; however we consider ;none
of them valid.
A copy of the transcript of the investigation conducted on November 14,
1980, has been made a part of the record. During the course of the November 14,
1980 investigation, it was agreed by the conducting officer and the claimant's
representative that the transcript of a prior investigation conducted on September
30, 1980, involving a similar charge against another employe arising out of the same
occurrence, would be incorporated in and made a part of the November 14, 1980,
investigation. While we may look with askance on such procedure, the fact
remains that the parties, by agreement and of their own volition, made the record
in the case and the Board must accept the record as made by the parties.
We have carefully reviewed the entire record of the November 14, 1980,
investigation, and
we find that substantial evidence was adduced in support of the
charge against the claimant. The claim will, therefore, be denied.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
ATTEST:
Nancy Dyer - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois this 13th day of June, 1984