NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Locket Number MW-24817
Rodney E. Dennis, Referee
(Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Consolidated Rail Corporation
(Former Lehigh Valley Railroad Company)
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
(1) The discipline (twenty demerits) imposed upon Foreman C. Nixon
for loss of Credit Card #3511 on January 9, 1980 was arbitrary and unwarranted
(System Locket 583).
(2) The twenty (20) demerits referred to in Part (1) hereof shall be
removed from the claimants record.
OPINION OF BOARD: Claimant C. Nixon was a Section Foreman at Carrier's facilities
in Oak Island, New Jersey. On January 9, 1980, he requested
use of Credit Card 3511 to purchase gas for the section truck. Claimant did
not turn the Credit Card in at the end of his shift. Claimant was advised on
January 28, 1980, that he should appear at a hearing to investigate the following
charges:
On January 9, 1980, at approximately 11:20 AM,
C. Nixon, A Foreman at Oak Island, did not
perform your responsibilities as an A Foreman
with Conrail, as required, in that Credit Card
#3511 assigned to you on January 9, 1980, for
the purpose of fueling your Section Truck
#7034 was lost that day and not returned to
Supervisor of Track, S. Gerwer, as policy
dictates. Also, you could not offer any
reasonable explanation as to why Credit Card
#3511 was lost.
The hearing was held as scheduled. As a result of that hearing,
Claimant was assessed a penalty of 20 demerits. The Board has reviewed the
record of this case and agrees with Carrier that Claimant was guilty as charged
and that discipline is appropriate in this instance. We do not agree, however,
that a 20 demerit penalty is appropriate. Claimant was careless with the Credit
Card. He lost it or misplaced it. For this, the penalty of a written reprimand
would be sufficient. We find no indication in the record to conclude otherwise.
We therefore direct that the penalty of 20 demerits be reduced to a letter of
reprimand.
Award Number 25279 Page 2
Locket Number MW-24817
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
That the discipline was excessive.
A W A R D
Claim sustained in accordance with the Opinion.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of Third Division
Attest
Nancy .~ver - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of February 1985.