(Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
 ( Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
 ( Express and Station Employes
 PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
 (Missouri Pacific Railroad Company

1. Carrier violated the Clerks' Rules Agreement when it failed and refused to assign senior qualified Clerk Mrs. Georgia A. Sheard to the position of Record Clerk No. 52, in Carrier's Car Accounting Office, St. Louis, Missouri, in lieu of a junior employe. (Carrier's File 205-5025)

 2. Carrier shall now be required to compensate Mrs. Georgia A. Sheard for the difference in rate of pay, amount $1.99 per day, beginning Wednesday, November 20, 1974 and continuing each subsequent work day thereafter, Monday through Friday, until violation is corrected.

 OPINION OF BOARD: Petitioner claims that the Carrier's denial of
 promotion for Mrs. Georgia A. Sheard from Clerk to
 Record Clerk No. 52 violated the Rules Agreement. Carrier awarded the
 position to a less senior employe because it considered claimant unfit
 due to her attendance record in the position she then held. The Record
 Clerk position, according to the Carrier, requires daily attention,
 making regular attendance essential. Claimant's ability to perform the
 duties required when at work was not disputed.

 Petitioner contends that an employe's attendance record in a prior position should not be a factor in considering fitness and ability under Rule 4(a), which reads, in part: "Promotion, assignments and displacements. under these rules shall be based on seniority, fitness and ability; fitness and ability being sufficient, seniority shall prevail." It further contends that Carrier's allegation of unsatisfactory attendance was unsupported by the evidence offered during the investigation.

 It is well established that in the absence of a showing that the Carrier's action was arbitrary or capricious, its decision as to fitness and ability should not be disturbed.

 Without deciding whether or not an unsatisfactory attendance record might or might not be sufficient reason for determining lack of


fitness or ability, we must first determine whether the Carrier's allegation of unsatisfactory attendance was supported by substantial evidence. Such examination leads us to the conclusion that substantial evidence is lacking, and hence management's action is considered to have been arbitrary. The reasons for such conclusion are: (1) Claimant's attendance record was not offered for review in discussions on the property. (2) Attendance records subsequently offered indicate an average of less than 2 days absent per month after excluding maternity leaves and vacations, and no comparison with the group average or the accepted bidder's record was offered. (3) Perfect attendance reasonably cannot be expected from or required of any employe, and carrier did not provide sufficient proof of its allegation that the holder of Record Clerk No. 52 position must be on the job each day.

 Claimant should be paid the difference between the rate of the job she held and the rate of Record Clerk No. 52 ($1.99 per day), commencing November 20, 1974 and continuing each work day through January 9, 1975. (Carrier's submission to this Board states that the position of Record Clerk was abolished at end of tour of duty January 9, 1975. This is not denied in Employes' Rebuttal.)

        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 ju
 over the dispute involved herein; and ICED V
        Carrier violated Rule 4(a)a


                      G - C C 1 1977

                      A W A R D


        Claim sustained in accordance with Opinion and F ~ER!

                                                  P


                            NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                            By Order of Third Division


ATTEST: a-tev. &"44!"o
        Executive Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 18th day of November 1977.