NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
THIRD DIVISION Locket Number CL-25967
Herbert L. Marx, Jr. Referee
(Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks,
( Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
(Missouri Pacific Railroad Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood (GL-9947)
that:
"(1) Carrier violated the Agreement between the parties when it
arbitrarily and injudiciously assessed Operator C. A. Presswood's record
with twenty (20) days actual suspension without justification.
(2) Carrier's action was unjust, arbitrary and an abuse of
descretion.
(3) Carrier shall now be required to expunge the charges,
record of investigation and discipline from Clerk Presswood's personal
files and to compensate Clerk Presswood for all wages lost account
Carrier's action.·
OPINION OF BOARD: Following an investigative hearing, Claimant, an
Operator at Mineola, Texas, was assessed a disciplinary
penalty of 20 days' actual suspension for "failure to properly issue
Train Order No. 903 to Extra 3238 East (122-07 train)". The Dispatcher
involved in the incident also received a twenty-day disciplinary penalty.
Although it appears that some responsibility was shared by
the Operator on the previous shift, the record indicates that the Claimant
failed to transmit the specified Train order, which warned of a 'double
load" involving close clearance. Greater attention to the train orders
in hand would have (or should have) made the omission apparent to the
Claimant. The Board finds, however, that the penalty was unduly harsh
and disproportionate in view of the circumstances in which the Claimant
was not solely at fault, and the discipline is to be reduced from twenty
(20) days to fifteen (15) days.
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
Award Number 25850 Page 2
Docket Number CL-25967
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:
4~ '. 'Z"~
Nancy J ,/D r - Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois this 13th day of January 1986.
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