Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
SECOND DIVISION
Award No. 13395
Docket No. 13316
99-2-97-2-89
The Second Division consisted of the regular members and in addition Referee
Robert L. Hicks when award was rendered.
(Sheet Metal Workers' International Association
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(CSX Transportation, Inc. (former Chesapeake &
( Ohio Railway Company)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
"1. CSX Transportation, Inc., (C&O RWay Co.) violated the provision
of the current controlling agreement when it improperly disciplined
Sheet Metal Worker K.E. Pierson when by letter dated January 8,
1997, he was informed that as the result of an investigation held on
Thursday, December 19, 1996 at the Huntington Locomotive Shop
`You have been found guilty as charged. Discipline assessed will be
thirty (30) actual working days suspension without pay including
time subsequently withheld from service.'
2. That, accordingly, CSX Transportation, Inc., be required to remove
the discipline from Mr. Pierson's record and that he be made whole
for any time, money benefits and seniority which he may have lost
as a result of being found guilty."
FINDINGS:
The Second Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record and all the
evidence, finds that:
The carrier or carriers and the employee or employees involved in this dispute
are respectively carrier and employee within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as
approved June 21, 1934.
Form 1 Award No.
13395
Page
2
Docket No.
13316
99-2-97-2-89
This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved
herein.
Parties to said dispute were given due notice of hearing thereon.
Effective December 6, 1996, the Claimant was advised of an Investigation to be
held on December 19, 1996 to determine the facts and to place responsibility in
connection with the charge of-
".
. . conduct unbecoming an employe in that you initiated an altercation
including verbal abuse and threats of bodily harm to Sheet Metal Worker
C. R. Vance in the main employe's locker at approximately
3:00
P.M. on
Thursday, December
5,
1996 at the Huntington Locomotive Shop."
He was withheld from service pending results of the Investigation.
Following the Investigation, the Claimant was assessed a
30
working day
suspension from service.
The Organization's challenge to the Carrier's imposition of discipline is two-fold;
one procedural, the other lack of proof that the altercation was nothing more than locker
room banter.
With regard to the procedural matter, the Organization requested an indefinite
postponement because of the Claimant's medical condition. The Carrier declined the
postponement, on the basis the continuation was to an indefinite date, and upon advice
of its Medical Department that the medical reason was not sufficient to sustain a
postponement. After reviewing the transcript, it is clear to the Board that everything
was normal, that the defense was the best it could be, and that the Claimant cooperated
fully and candidly.
Regarding the Carrier's obligation to establish substantial evidence of the
Claimant's responsibility for the charges assessed, the Carrier accomplished this
through the testimony of other eyewitnesses. Furthermore, the Claimant fully admitted
responsibility for the charges. There is really no controversy to resolve, nor is the 30
working day suspension excessive for the established charges. The Carrier is forever
Form 1 Award No. 13395
Page 3 Docket No.13316
99-2-97-2-89
charged with providing a safe work place, and that includes safeguarding each
employee's right to work without threat or fear
of
violence.
AWARD
Claim denied.
ORDER
This Board, after consideration
of
the dispute identified above, hereby orders that
an award favorable to the Claimant(s) not be made.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order
of
Second Division
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 12th. day
of
April 1999.