(Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and ( Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, ( Express and Station Employes PARTIES TO DISPUTE: (Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company

1. The Carrier violated the effective Clerks' Agreement when following an investigation and hearing at which he was unable to be present through no fault of his own, it discharged Clerk K. C. Douglas from service effective June 14, 1976.

 2. The Carrier shall now reinstate Mr. Douglas to its service with his seniority and all other rights unimpaired, and shall compensate him for all time lost as a result of this improper discharge, and shall pay an additional per cent (6%) per annum, and shall clear his record of the charges placed against him by the Carrier.

 OPINION OF BOARD: The Board has carefully reviewed the record.

 The pivotal question before us is whether or not Carrier's certified letter of June 3, 1976 reasonably comported with--
 the bona fides of constructive delivery.

 We are certainly mindful that claimant's physical condition would unarguably warrant a postponement of the June 2,6 hearing upon proper application which in fact did occur when the local BRAC
 ,Chairman requested a change in date because of claimant's hospitalization.

 Carrier accommodated this request by first acknowledging same over the telephone on rune 2, 1976 and then following it up with a formal certified letter (supra). After focusing critically on the fact patterns attendant to these events, we think that the evidence presented falls short of that quantum of proof that would reasonably show that the Claimant's particular circumstances at that moment estopped him from receiving the aforesaid comminication. Third Division case law on the essentials of acceptable "constructive delivery" is on point with our
                  Docket Number CL-22164


assessment. Furthermore, while we are mindful of claimant's asserted medical condition, he offered no official proof from responsible hospital administrative authorities certifying that his ailment necessitated absolute institutional confinement during this time.

 Accordingly, since we have found that the June 3, 1976 certified letter was consistent with our standards of constructive delivery, we will review the merits of the June 9, 1976, investigative proceeding. We assessed.

        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 gmgloyes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and fployes 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

        The Agreement was not violated.


                    MAR 2 7 1°i~

                    A W A R D


        Claim denied.

                                  J .1. BERG P


                          NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                          By Order of Third Division


ATTEST: igAIAA441~_

        Executiv Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 15th day of March 1978.