NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Docket Number MW-20719
Francis X. Quinn, Referee
(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Norfolk and Western Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood
that:
(1) The dismissal of Laborers G. W. Harper and L. J. Copley
on August 20, 1973 was without just and sufficient cause and on the basis
of unproven charges (System File MW-PO-73-100).
(2) Laborer L. J. Copley be reimbursed for all monetary loss
suffered from August 20, 1973 to February 25, 1974.
(3) Laborer G. W. Harper be restored to service, his record
cleared, seniority and all other rights unimpaired and reimbursement be
made for all time lost from date of dismissal to date of restoration to
service, all in accordance with Rule 32 (c).
OPINION OF BOARD: The rule is well established that an employe is
required to carry out his assigned duties, even when
he feels aggrieved. The corollary to this rule, couched as an exception,
grants an employe the right to abstain from executing an assignment when
confronted by an immediate danger to himself, property, or the public.
However, in the instant dispute, there was no valid justification for
the conduct of the claimants on the morning of August 20, 1973 in will
fully disregarding the orders of their supervisors. This act of insub
ordination was of such a nature as to justify the dismissal of these
employes from service.
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
Award Number 20651 page 2
Docket Number MW-20719
That the Agreement was not violated.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
' By Order of Third Division
ATTEST: ~J'~ .
Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 21st day of March 1975.