NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Docket Number CL-20239
(Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks,
( Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Houston Belt and Terminal Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood (GL-7349)
that:
1. The Carrier violated the Clerks' Agreement when on December 29,
1971, it summarily dismissed 0. W. Scott, Clerk, Houston, Texas, from service
of the Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company.
2. Clerk 0. W. Scott shall now be reinstated to the service of the
Carrier with seniority and all other rights unimpaired.
3. Clerk Scott shall now be compensated for all wage and other losses
sustained account this dismissal.
OPINION OF BOARD: Claimant 0. W. Scott was dismissed from the service of Car
rier on January 1, 1972 by letter reading in pertinent part
as follows:
"Attached is copy of transcript of formal investigation held
in this office, January 3, 1972, to develop facts and place
your responsibility, if any, in connection with you apparently
being under the influence of an intoxicant or narcotic at or
about 2:40 p.m. December 29, 1971 while you were working as a
Stevedore in Room 100, Union Station Building, and further you
had in your automobile parked in the Houston Belt & Terminal
Railway Company parking lot, on the east side of the Republic
Warehouse, a loaded 20 guage, pump action shotgun, Model Ip67 F,
Serial YkA 396028,
A careful review of the transcript plainly indicates that the
charges were sustained, as substantiated by the testimony of
the various witnesses, and by your own admission, and for this
violation you are dismissed from the service of the Houston
Belt & Terminal Railway Company."
Upon review, the whole record shows that Claimant received a fair and
impartial hearing and that substantial evidence was adduced at the investigative
hearing to support the charges against him. On the latter point, Claimant admitted at the hearing th
Award Number 20112 Page 2
Docket Number CL-20239
on December 29, 1971 and that he was on that date carrying a loaded shotgun
in his automobile which was parked on Carrier property. Claimant also made
similar admissions to Carrier's special agent and to supervisory personnel
under questioning the day of the incident.
Claimant stated on the record that he was carrying the loaded shotgun for "self-protection" and
break in the belief that it would not affect his ability to work. Four witnesses, two supervisors of
their direct observation of Claimant on the afternoon in question his speech
and movement were impaired, he exuded a strong odor of alcohol, and he was
incapable of performing his regular duties.
Petitioner urges that the penalty of dismissal in this case is so
unjust and unreasonable as to constitute a violation of the Agreement. We
cannot find sufficient mitigating or extenuating circumstances herein to support such a conclusion.
prohibiting consumption of alcohol during working hours may be a dismissible
offense. See 2&, Awards 18036 (Dolnick), 17970 (Dugan), 16340 (Devine) and
8806 (Bailer). In the instant case, Claimants' offense was compounded by the
possession of a loaded firearm on Carrier property while he was under the influence of alcohol. We c
we will not substitute our judgment for the disciplinary action taken herein by
Carrier a:d the claim must be denied.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole record
and all the evidence, finds and holds:
That the parties waived oral hearing;
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, 1934;
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein; and
That the Agreement was not violated.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
ATTEST: ~.
xecutive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 25th day of January 1974.