Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 11948
SECOND DIVISION Docket No. 11711
90-2-88-2-207
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Peter R. Meyers when award was rendered.
(International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Union Pacific Railroad Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
1. That the Union Pacific Railroad Company violated the controlling
agreement, particularly Rule 37, when they unjustly withheld Electrician R. Y.
Williams, from service beginning September 16, 1987, and following investigation held on September 30, 1987, dismissed him from service effective
October 26, 1987, North Platte, Nebraska.
2. That accordingly, the Union Pacific Railroad Company be ordered
to compensate Electrician Williams as follows:
a. Compensate him for all time lost at the prime rate of
interest.
b. Return him to service with seniority rights unimpaired.
c. Make him whole for all vacation rights.
d. Make whole for all health, welfare and insurance benefits,
including Railroad Retirement benefits and unemployment
insurance.
e. Make whole for pension benefits, including Railroad Retirement benefits and unemployment insurance.
f. Make whole for any and all other benefits he would have
earned during the time withheld from service.
g. Any record of this disciplinary action be expunged from
his personal 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.
Form 1 Award No. 11948
Page 2 Docket No. 11711
90-2-88-2-207
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 by the Carrier as an Electrician at its North
Platte Diesel facility at North Platte, Nebraska.
On September 16, 1987, the Carrier notified the Claimant of a formal
Investigation to be held on the following charges:
'.
. . Violation of General Rules A (paragraph 2),
B (paragraph 4), and L of Form 7908, Safety, Radio
and General Rules for all Employees .
. . . you conducted yourself in a manner subjecting
the Company to criticism in that you were arrested on
March 30, 1987, at approximately 9:39 a.m. and subsequently convicted and then sentenced on September
14, 1987, for one count of distribution of marijuana
and one count of distribution of valium."
The Hearing was held on September 30, 1987. On October 26, 1987, the Carrier
notified the Claimant that he had been found guilty of all charges and was
assessed discipline of dismissal, with all seniority rights terminated, effective immediately. Thereafter, the Organization filed a Claim on Claimant's
behalf, challenging his dismissal.
This Board has reviewed the evidence and testimony in this case, and
we find that there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the finding
that the Claimant was guilty of violating several Carrier Rules when he entered a guilty plea to distributing marijuana and valium and was sentenced to
jail and probation. This Board has found on several occasions in the past
that when an employee pleads guilty to a serious crime, the Carrier is justified in considering it to be conduct unbecoming an employee. (See Second
Division Awards 9862, 7570, and Third Division Award 21825.)
Once this Board has determined that there is sufficient evidence in
the record to support a guilty finding, we next turn our attention to the type
of discipline imposed. This Board will not set aside a Carrier's imposition
of discipline unless we find its action to have been unreasonable, arbitrary,
or capricious.
In the case at hand, this Claimant admitted distributing marijuana
and valium. This Board cannot find that the Carrier acted unreasonably,
arbitrarily, or capriciously when it decided to terminate his employment for
conduct unbecoming an employee. Therefore, the Claim will be denied.
Form 1 Award No. 11948
Page 3 Docket No. 11711
90-2-88-2-207
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
Attest:
ancy J. -Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of November 1990.