STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Request for reinstatement of Dining Car Steward J. C. Lakin, with seniority and vacation rights unimpaired, and with pay for time lost, account being discharged without proper cause, and investigation not conducted in conformity with Rule 31 of the current agreement.
OPINION OF BOARD: Claimant was dismissed from service and appeals. Record reviewed.
On basis of record and oral argument by party representatives who appeared personally before the Board with the Referee sitting as a member, it has been decided that Claimant had a fair and impartial hearing as provided by the Rules of Agreement.
Only because it turns out to be harmless error, on basis of the entire record, is the hearing officer's misconduct in interfering with the crossexamination of a witness disregarded.
Rules violation being evident, and there being nothing prejudicial in the record to show that the discipline was not in good faith, or that same was otherwise arbitrary or capricious, Claimant is not entitled to the relief sought.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, after giving the parties to this dispute due notice of hearing thereon, and upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds and holds:
That the Carrier and the Employe involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employe within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and