~:xhc, ass Award No. 16965
Docket No. MW-17798






PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
BROTHERHOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYES
CLINCHFIELD RAILROAD COMPANY

STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:






OPINION OF BOARD: This is a discipline case. The Claimant was awarded the position of Section Foreman at Kingsport, Tennessee, December 6, 1965. The following day, Carrier wrote Claimant that he must move to Kingsport from his residence in Johnson City, Tennessee, a distance of 24 miles.

Correspondence and discussions on the matter continued until, on November 13, 1967, Carrier vacated Claimant's Kingsport position. There followed protests, appeals and hearings on this claim and a second claim based on his dismissal January 29, 1968.

Claimant had served this Carrier for 27 years and since August 5, 1950, as a Section Foreman.

This case pivots on whether or not Carrier could require Claimant to reside at a specific location-either at the headquarters, on the territory or nearby, as each is mentioned.


We find no such requirement. The record reveals that most Section Foremen live varying distances from their headquarters. The man who replaced Claimant at Kingsport resided 26 miles further from Kingsport than the Claimant.


The record shows that Claimant had "planned" to move to Kingsport, and that this intention to do so was expressed by the Organization to the Carrier. We do not, however, consider this to be a binding agreement.






Since we find on the First Claim that Carrier's action was discriminatory, we also find that Carrier's dismissal of Claimant in the Second Claim was excessive.


It is our judgment that Claimant Chaffin be reinstated to his position with all rights unimpaired, but without compensation for time lost.


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 Employes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved June 21,1.934;


That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and





The Claimant shall be reinstated with full seniority and vacation rights, but without back pay.






Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 20th day of February 1969.

Keenan Printing Co., Chicago, 111. Printed in U.S.A.
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