NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Docket Number SG-23393
Joseph A. Sickles, Referee
(Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Missouri Pacific Railroad Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: "Claim of the General Committee of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Signalmen on the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company:
On behalf of Signal Foreman L. J. Usher and Signalmen R. J. Stumpe,
Chester, Illinois, account being suspended from service for 30 days as a result
of an investigation held on April 20, 1979." (Carrier file: K 225-815)
OPINION OF BOARD: Subsequent to a notice of investigation the Employee were
assessed a thirty (30) day suspension. They have questioned
the adequacy of the notice, stating that it was "broad and ambiguous", and that
it was not precise enough to afford the accused the opportunity to prepare
themselves to defend against the accusations.
The notification instructed the Employee to report to a certain location
at a designated time for an investigation to develop the facts and place a
responsibility, if any, in connection with the report " ., that you failed to
properly maintain the signal appliances on your assigned territory on the
Chester Subdivision."
While the Board concedes that the notification is not the most precise
of accusations (and we note that the Employee made a timely objection); nonetheless
it appears that the parties have been rather lax in demanding strict compliance
for a significant period of time and thus we are disinclined to set aside the
imposition of discipline on that procedural ground.
F1MINGS: 'Ehe 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 Employee involved in this dispute are
respectively Carrier and Employee within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act,
as approved June 21, 1931+;
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein; and
That the Agreement was not violated. -
Award Number
24086
Page
2
Docket Number
SG-23393
A W A R D
Claim denied.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
Attest: Acting Executive Secretary
National Railroad Adjustment Board
By ~ 9
Rosemarie Brasch - Administrative Assistant
Date at Chicago, Illinois, this 5th day of January
1983.
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