Form 1 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD Award No. 29148
 THIRD DIVISION Docket No. CL-29583
 92-3-90-3-534
 The Third Division consisted of the regular members and in
 addition Referee Elizabeth C. Wesman when award was rendered.
 (Transportation Communications International Union
 PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
 (National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)

 STATEMENT OF CLAIM:

 "(Carrier's File Nos. TCU-D-3322, TCU-D-3321/Organization's File Nos. 393-CO-036-D, 393-D-CO-037-D)

CLAIM N0. 1:

 1. The Carrier violated the provisions of Rule 24(a) of the Agreement when, on February 3, 1990, Richard Young, from service pending a disciplinary investigation.

 2. The Carrier acted in an arbitrary, capricious and unjust manner and in violation of Rule 24 of the Agreement when, by notice of February 20, 1990, it assessed as discipline the termination of Commissary Worker, Mr. Richard Young.

 3. The Carrier shall now be immediately required to reinstate Claimant, Mr. Young, to his former limited to daily wages, overtime and holiday pay had he not been withheld and subsequently dismissed, as mentioned above.

 4. The Carrier shall now be immediately required to clear Claimant's record of the charges made against him in this matter and restore all his rights, privileges and seniority unimpaired.

 5. The Carrier shall now also be immediately required to reimburse Claimant for any amounts paid by him for medical, surgical or dental expenses for himself and his dependents to the extent that such payments would be payable by the current insu Craft. Claimant shall also be reimbursed for all premium payments he may have to make in the purchase of substitute health, dental and life insurance. This and the above claims shall be considered as on-going and therefore shall continue until such time as Form 1 Award No. 29148
 Page 2 Docket No. CL-29583
 92-3-90-3-534
 CLAIM N0. 2:

 1. The Carrier violated the provisions of Rule 24 (a) when, on or about February 3, 1990, it removed and held Commissary Worker, Mr. Allan Turner, from service pending a disciplinary investigation.

 2. The Carrier acted in an arbitrary, capricious and unjust manner and in violation of Rule 24 of the Agreement when, by notice of February 20, 1990, it assessed as discipline the termination of Commissary Worker, Mr. Allan Turner.

 3. The Carrier shall now be immediately required to reinstate Claimant, Mr. Turner, to his forme limited to daily wages, overtime and holiday pay had he not been withheld and subsequently dismissed, as mentioned above.

 4. The Carrier shall now be immediately required to clear Claimant's record of the charges made against him in this matter and restore all his rights, privileges and seniority unimpaired.

 5. The Carrier shall now also be immediately required to reimburse Claimant for any amounts paid by him for medical, surgical or dental expenses for himself and his dependents to the extent that such payments would be payable by the current insu Craft. Claimant shall also be reimbursed for all premium payments he may have to make in the purchase of substitute health, dental and life insurance. This and the above claims shall be considered as on-going and therefore shall continue until such time as
FINDINGS:
The Third Division of the Adjustment Board upon the whole record and all the evidence, :finds that:

 The carrier or carriers and the employe or employes involved in this dispute are respectively carrier and employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act as approved June 21, 1934.

 This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.

This case involves two Claimants, Mr. Richard Young and Mr. Allan Turner, who, at the time of the incident in question were assigned as driver and bar room clerk (commissary workers) in Carrier's commissary in Chicago. Their hours of work were 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P. M., and their areas of assignment were the bar room a Form 1 Award No. 29148
 Page 3 Docket No. CL-29583
 92-3-90-3-534

 1990, Mr. John Ceylor, a fellow commissary worker reported to a fourth worker, Mr. Thomas Karva, that he had just seen Claimants put a box on the cart Mr. Karva was to take for loading onto Amtrak's Train No. 5, a cross country train scheduled for departure within a few hours. After he had ascertained that a box of steaks had been added to the supplies on the cart, the remainder of which all had been gathered and recorded the day before, he notified his Supervisor, Mr. Padilla. Mr. Padilla checked to see if the additional steaks were part of the original food inventory or if a new order had been issued to supplement the original one. When he found that neither was the case, he notified Mr. Bob Villa, General Supervisor of the Chicago commissary. Mr. Villa then notified Mr. Thomas P. Guerin, District Manager for Carrier's midwest commissaries. On th Mr. Padilla met with Mr. Ceylor to discuss the,incident.

 At that meeting Mr. Ceylor told the Supervisors that on January 23, 1990, he was assigned as a driver, taking out goods to trains and bagging ice. He said that he had seen Claimants enter the freezer area, look around as if checking the area for other people, and then saw Mr. Turner "stand guard" while Mr. Young entered the freezer and returned with a box which Claimants then placed on the cart on its way to Train No. 5.

 As a result of Mr. Ceylor's testimony, confirmed by the Supervisors' subsequent discovery of the box of steaks, both employees were charged with theft. In substance, the charges are nearly identical, with the sole distinction being that Claimant of the charges against Claimants read in pertinent part as follows:






Form 1 Award No. 29148
 Page 4 Docket No. CL-29583
 92-3-90-3-534
 SPECIFICATIONS: In that while on duty as a commis
 sary worker on Tuesday, January 23, 1990, you were
 observed with another commissary employee taking
 unauthorized, a box of 18 each, 10 ounce steaks with
 a revenue value of $255.00. You placed these steaks

Following the disciplinary Investigations, Claimants were notified of their dismissal from Carrier's service. The discipline was appealed and processed to the highest Car
The Organization's appeal in this case is both procedural and substantive. First, the Organizati fair and impartial Hearing. Second, it insists that the charges against the Claimants were not proven; in particular, Carrier showed no reasonable motivation for the actions of
Based upon the record before us, there is no support for the Organization's position that Claima seen from the charges they are sufficiently specific to permit Claimants to formulate an informed defense. Further, although the Organization went on the record as proceeding with the Hearings under protest, there is no evidence to suggest that Carrier's Hearing Officer assumed a prejudging or prosecutorial role. On the contrary, a review of the record before the Board indicates that both Claimants were afforded a full and impartial Hearing.

 Testimony presented against Claimants, particularly that of Mr. Ceylor is credible and consistent. Ceylor initially informed Karva of the incident not to implicate Claimants, but to save Karva from potential disciplinary action for transp testimony were disingenuous and believable. Claimants, on the other hand, failed to present any evidence which justifies their presence in the freezer area on the date in question. Nor have they adequately explained their handling of a case of steaks
Carrier has shown by an overwhelming preponderance of the evidence that Claimants' illicitly removed the box of steaks and secreted them to facilitate their later remo Claimants' intent to steal is so incriminating that their illegal motivation may be inferred. The fact that the action was discovered before Claimants could carry their misdeed to its intended conclusion does not mitigate the seriousness of the misdeed.

 In light of the above, we see no reason to disturb Carrier's assessment of discipline against ei



Form 1 Award No. 29148
 Page 5 Docket No. CL-29583
 92-3-90-3-534
 NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
 By Order of Third Division

 Attest:

Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of February 1992.