Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 12387
SECOND DIVISION Docket No. 12352
92-2-91-2-151
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in
addition Referee Edward L. Suntrup when award was rendered.
(Brotherhood Railway Carmen/Division of TCU
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(CSX Transportation, Inc. (formerly The Chesapeake and
Ohio Railway Company)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
1. That the CSX Transportation (hereinafter "carrier") violated
Rules 37 and 38 of the Shop Crafts Agreement between Transportation Communications International Union -- Carmen's Division and CSX Transportation, Inc.
(Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company) (revised June 1, 1969) when the carrier
removed Painter T. M. Kearns (hereinafter "claimant") from service for alleged
medical reasons on April 19, 1989.
2. That accordingly, the carrier be ordered to return the claimant
to service; that he be allowed compensation for all time lost as a result of
his unjust remov4l from service; that he be made whole for vacation rights;
loss of health and insurance benefits; pension benefits including railroad
retirement and unemployment insurance, and any other benefit of employment he
would have earned during the period of his unjust suspension; and that the
carrier allow claimant interest on said compensation and time lost at the
prime rate now in effect.
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.
Under date of April 18, 1989, the Claimant was advised by the Carrier's Chief Medical Officer that because of information received by the
Carrier from the Claimant's treating chiropractor he was deemed medically unqualified to continue covering his assignment and his Supervisor would be
notified accordingly. On the following day the Claimant was advised by the
Plant Manager at Raceland Car Shop, Russell, Kentucky, that he was medically
Form 1 Award No. 12387
Page 2 Docket No. 12352
92-2-91-2-151
unqualified to continue his duties and he was furloughed. The Claimant was
found medically unqualified because his treating chiropractor's opinion was
that the Claimant be restricted to working eight (8) hours per day. Thereafter a claim was filed on grounds that the Claimant was improperly removed
from service. Because of changing work load in the Car Shop the Claimant was
returned to work on April 24, 1989. On that date the Plant Manager informed
the Claimant that thereafter there would be "...no forced overtime" at the
Paint Shop at Raceland.
This is a companion case to Second Division Award 12385 already ruled
on by the Board. The issue at bar is whether the Carrier has the contractual
right to furlough an employee whose attending physician or, in this case,
chiropractor indicates that he ought not to work overtime but that the employee, nevertheless, is fully able to work a full eight (8) hour day. The
contractual provisions at stake in this case, found in Rule 11, are parallel
to those of the earlier case cited above. The differences between the two
cases only lie in the facts that the Claimants are different, the medical
issue is different, and the dates of furlough are different.
The reasoning and conclusions found in Award 12385 are incorporated
herein by reference and need not be reiterated by the Board. The claim is
sustained. All monies due to the Claimant, because of having been laid off by
the Carrier from April 19, 1989 through April 24, 1989 shall be paid to him on
pro rata basis. Interest on these monies, as part of relief requested, is
denied for the same reasons as stated in Award 12385.
A W A R D
Claim sustained in accordance with the Findings.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Second Division
Attest:
Nancy J. r - Executive Secretat'y
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 8th day of July 1992.