PARTIES TO DISPUTE:

STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
(1) The two (2) days of suspension imposed upon Trackman J. E. Thornton for alleged ·violation of Safety Rule 3361, Paragraph G, in connection with personal injury sustained September 12, 1979 at Bentleyville, Pa.· was arbitrary, capricious, unwarranted and on the basis of unproven charges (System Locket No. 571).
(2) The claimant's record shall be cleared of the charge levelled against him and he shall be compensated for all wage loss suffered.
OPINION OF BOARD: Claimant J. E. Thornton, a Trackman with approximately three
 years' service, was working with a raising gang at Bentleyville,
 Pennsylvania, at the time of the incident in question. On October 30, 1979, while
 reaching for an acetylene tank, he felt something snap in his arm. Carrier maintained
 that he failed to grip the tank firmly at the most suitable point to avoid pulling
 or jerking and consequently was in violation of paragraph (g) of Safety Rule 3360,
 which reads as follows:


A trial was held on December 7, 1979, and Claimant was ultimately assessed a five-day suspension. Following appeal on the property, the discipline was reduced to two days. Upon further appeal, the dispute was progressed to this Board for final adjudication.
Carrier argues that substantial evidence was adduced at a fair and impartial trial to support the assessed discipline. Carrier notes that it has the right to establish Safety Rules and to police their enforcement. The penalty imposed was appropriate and should not be altered.
The Organization maintains that Claimant did not violate Safety Rule 3361 and that the evidence elicited at the trial does not support Carrier's charge. This Board must agree. Claimant was operating under unusual conditions and displayed no negligence in reacting to them. Carrier is correct in stating that a Board should not alter Management's decision where the discipline imposed is not arbitrary and capricious and there is sufficient probative evidence to support the charge. The latter is not the case here, however, and therefore this Board finds that the discipline imposed is not appropriate. Claimant's record shall be cleared of the charges and he is to be compensated for all lost wages.
                    Locket Number MW-24684


        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 Agreement was violated.


                        A W A R D


        Claim sustained.


                          NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

                          By Order of Third Division

Attest: 4. 1'a~
        Nancy J r - Executive Secretary


Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 15th day of April 1985.