NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT HOARD
THIRD DIVISION Docket Number Nd1-21753
Robert W. Smedley, Referee
(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood
that:
(1) The dismissal of Track Patrolman K. Gotfrey was capricious,
arbitrary, without just and sufficient cause, on the basis of unproven
charges and in violation of the Agreement (System File D-19-75/bW-14-75).
(2) Mr. K. Gotfrey be reinstated with seniority and all other
rights unimpaired with pay for all time lost subsequent to the date he
is physically fit to return to work.
OPINION OF HOARD: Claimant was discharged after a hearing April 14, 1975,
for failure to timely report an on-the-job inury.
Claimant states he hurt his back while helping to roll a 55 gallon grease
drum across the tracks in the snow. The fall drums weighed upwards of
500 pounds.
The written report was made March 19, 1975, and the alleged
injury occurred February 11, 1975.
The record is deficient. It does not contain the rule claimant
broke in late reporting. It does not contain the reporting form, the
subject of much discussion about wrong dates. Lay corroboration that
the
inury
occurred is very inconclusive. And most importantly, the
record is devoid of medical evidence concerning the actual
inury.
Claimant was in the doctor's office on February 12, why we do not know.
We do see he was inured in an auto accident on February 5th.
An injury during course of employment is serious and potentially
costly. We do not question the reasonableness of requiring an inury
to be promptly reported and medically supported. The claimant has a
burden in this respect. Given the state of this record, we cannot overturn the carrier's discretion
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;
Award Number 21514 Page 2
Docket Number MW-21753
That this Division of the Adjustment Hoard has jurisdiction
over the dispute involved herein; and
The agreement was not violated.
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RA31RQAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
ATTEST:
~e.
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 29th day of April 1977.
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