Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 10185
SECOND DIVISION Docket No. 9647
2-WP-FO-'85
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Ida Klaus when award was rendered.
( International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers
Parties to Dispute:
( The Western Pacific Railroad Company
Dispute: Claim of Employes:
1. That under the current agreement Firemen and Oiler W. H. Bishop was
unjustly suspended from the service of the Carrier, for 5 working days.
2. That accordingly, the Carrier be ordered to:
To compensate the aforesaid employe for the 5 working days, that he
was suspended, at the pro-rata rate of the position he held at the
time he 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 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.
Following a hearing, the Claimant received a five-day suspension for violation
of Rules No. 6 and 773 which respectively provide: 1) carelessness, negligence
and/or indifference in the performance of duties will not be condoned; and 2)
motor vehicles must be operated in a safe manner regardless of urgency or importance
of trip.
On July 24, 1979, the Claimant, a Fireman and Oiler, upon the request of a
train crew, drove the crew to their work site in his assigned Carrier truck.
After dropping them at a caboose, the Claimant left his truck unattended with the
motor
running and
entered the caboose to use the rest room facilities. In his
absence, the truck slipped out of park and began to roll backward. He immediately
left the caboose in an attempt to stop the truck, injuring his ankle in the
process.
Form 1 Award No. 10185
Page 2 Docket No. 9647
2-WP-FO-'85
On these facts the Carrier determined that the Claimant was careless in the
performance of his duties, which resulted in injury to himself. It stresses that
the main offense was the Claimant's failure to safely operate a motor vehicle.
It notes that had he not been involved in the unauthorized activities of driving
a train crew and using the caboose rest room, this incident would have been
averted.
The Organization counters that the Carrier was arbitrary in its imposition
of discipline. It asserted that as a matter of course, motor vehicles are left
running while
the-driver is absent but that this particular truck was defective,
a fact not known to the Claimant. Moreover, it asserts that transportation of
train crews by other crafts was a common occurrence.
After a review of the entire record, the Board finds substantial support for
the Carrier's determination. Regardless of work-site habits or unknown defects,
leaving a truck unattended while its motor is
running is
a violation of specific
Carrier rules and contrary to accepted common sense safety standards. Indeed,
the Claimant admitted unsafely operating a motor vehicle and asserted that he
would never repeat that offense. Although transportation of the train crew is
not itself a negligent act, it led to the negligence found here. However, we do
not see this as a direct cause of the offense committed.
Normally, such an offense would warrant a five-day suspension. However, in
view of the Claimant's admission that he should not have acted as he did we find
that a reprimand is an appropriate form of discipline. The claim is sustained
insofar as the penalty is concerned. The penalty shall be modified to a
reprimand and the Claimant shall be compensated for wages lost.
A W A R D
Claim is sustained in accordance with the Findings.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
Attest:
Nancy ver - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 9th day of January 1985.