This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.
The Claimant entered the Carrier's service on June 29, 1964, and was working as a Laborer at the time of his dismissal.
On January 6, 1995, Claimant, while working in Carrier's Brewer Yard, Danville. Illinois, walked across a frozen puddle covered with snow, slipped and fell, injuring his back. As a result of this accident and 14 prior accidents since 1967, Carrier conducted an investigatory Hearing. After that Hearing, Carrier found Claimant guilty of being accident prone and dismissed him from service. The Organization filed a timely appeal. The parties were unable to settle this dispute on the property.
Carrier contends Claimant was afforded a fair and impartial- Hearing; that it obtained sufficient evidence proving the Claimant guilty of being accident prone and assessed the proper level of discipline. The Organization claimed the Investigation was not fair and impartial; that Carrier has no standard for "accident proneness": that Carrier offered no credible evidence that Claimant was responsible for any of the 15 personal injuries he sustained during his more than 30 years of employment; and Claimant was never charged with a Safety Rule violation for any of his 14 prior accidents. Approximately three years separate the Claimant's two most recent injuries.
The Board finds several flaws in C'arrier's case, any one of which, standing alone would be fatal to its case. Carrier did not show that it had investigated any of the 14 prior accidents. Carrier had not found that Claimant caused those accidents by his own carelessness or negligence or that he had violated Safety Rules. Carrier did not provide evidence that it had imposed any form of discipline and/or corrective safety training after any of the prior accidents. Carrier had no articulated standard of accident proneness. Statistical comparison of accident rates of employees are valid only to the extent that such comparisons are made between similar jobs containing similar hazards in similar environmental conditions over similar time periods. Statistical comparisons were not persuasive here. Form 1 Award No. 32548
This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified above, hereby orders that an award favorable to the Claimant(s) be made. The Carrier is ordered to make the Award effective on or before 30 days following the postmark date the Award is transmitted to the parties.