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PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees
VS.
Norfolk and Western Railway Company
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
1. Carrier violated the effective Agreement on September 28,
1976, by dismissing Extra Gang Laborer Michael Hart without a
fair and impartial hearing.
2. Claimant Michael Hart be reinstated with seniority,
vacation and all other rights unimpaired and that Carrier pay
him for all money loss suffered by him.
FINDINGS: This Board upon the whole record and all the
evidence finds that:
The Carrier and the Employee involved in this dispute are
respectively Carrier and Employee within the meaning of the
Railway Labor Act, as amended.
OPINION:
The Claimant entered service on July 22, 1976. Rule 1 -
Seniority of the applicable Agreement in effect between the
parties provides that:
"(a) Seniority begins at the time the employe's
pay starts when last entering service, providing
his application for employment has been approved
and he has met the company's requirements for
persons entering the service. The application for
employment will be approved or rejected within 30
days from date service is first performed. Seniority will be restricted to the seniQ ity districts,
as hereinafter provided,
on
which seniority has
been established."
By certified letter dated August 20, 1976, the
Division
Engineer
advised the Claimant of his being separated from service; such
letter was duly received and signed for the following day,
'August 21, 1976 -well within the 30-day tis limit. Such
action was conveyed to the Claimant's immediate supervisor -a Gang Foreman.
Apparently unbeknowns to the officer who initiated removal,
this subordinate official (Gang Foreman) retained the Claimant
on duty for an additional 39 days, at which time his presence
was discovered and he was removed from service.
The Carrier contends the Claimant was given constructive
notice of his unacceptability within the 30-day grace period
recognized under the Agreement and that action of this subordinate official -- who lacked the authority to ignore this
decision -- does not alter its applicability. The Organization
contends that the Claimant, having been retained beyond the
30-day period for whatever reason, is entitled to a hearing
in keeping with the provisions of Rule 22; essentially, the
Organization asserts the Carrier's action is disciplinary
in nature requiring an investigation and a hearing in order for
the Carrier to substantiate its actions. We are not so moved.
There can be little doubt that the Carrier initiated its right
to remove the Claimant within the 30-day period recognized'
by both parties under the Agreement. It is also clear that the
Claimant received such Notice. The question here is whether a
subordinate official can overturn the Carrier's decision to
exercise its rights to separate an employee within the proba-
tionary period. We think not. It is not reasonable to conclude
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that management can always be aware of the actions or inactions
of subordinate members of its supervisory cadre which tend to
run counter to its clearly set out intentions otherwise. We
would be in a substantially different position here if the
actions were reversed, i.e. if a higher member of management
had unilaterally reversed a decision by a lower echelon member
without so notifying him, particularly if such lower member
was in a direct supervisory relationship With the higher member.
Under those circumstances, we might be disposed to bold the
opposite. But there is no showing here that the Gang Foreman
bad the authority to refute his supervisor's decision. Whatever other outcome resulted of such indiscretion on the part
of the Gang Foreman, it does not alter the fact that the Carrier, with both intent and purpose, did properly and constructively
notify the Claimant within the 30-day period of his unacceptability
to continued employment. Essentially, we conclude that the
Carrier's actions come under the provisions of Rule 1 and not
Rule 22; thus the Agreement was not violated in the separation
of the Claimant.
AWARD:
Claim is denied.
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JameaF. Scearce
Neut 1 Member
G. C. Edwards Fred Wurpel, Jr.
Carrier Member Organization Member
Dated this/J, day' of oG~
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