BEFORE PUBLIC LAW BOARD NO. 1837
BROTHERHOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYEES
NORFOLK AND WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY
Award No. 82
STATEMENT OF CLAIM: Claim of the Brotherhood that:
Claim on behalf of W. Scott, Jr. requesting that he be reinstated and paid for
time lost, as a result of his dismissal from service following investigation
held on February 21, 1992, in connection with failure to comply with
instructions of Carrier's Medical Director and Company policy by failing to
cooperate with the rehabilitation program required by DARS.
Upon the whole record and all the evidence, after hearing, the Board finds that the
parties herein are carrier and employee within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as
amended, and this board is duly constituted by agreement under Public Law 89-456 and
has jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter.
This award is based on the facts and circumstances of this particular case and shall
not serve as a precedent in any other case.
This Board has reviewed the evidence and testimony in this case and we find that
there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the finding that the Claimant tested
positive for cocaine in October of 1990. He was subsequently placed on the Carrier
DARS Program. That program requires that an employee cooperate with the
rehabilitation program set forth by DABS. If the employee does not cooperate, he will be
subject to dismissal.
PAL
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PA..
This Board finds that there is sufficient evidence in the record that the Claimant
did not cooperate with the DABS Program in that he failed to keep his system free of
unlawful substances. He was given a drug screen on April 3, 1991, and that tested
positive for cocaine. He was returned to in-patient treatment after that but again tested
positive in November of 1991. Consequently, he completed two cycles of in-patient
treatment and aftercare and still was unable to keep his system free of unlawful
substances.
Once this Board has determined that there is sufficient evidence in the record to
support the guilty finding, we next turn our attention to the type of discipline imposed.
This Board will not set aside a Carrier's imposition of discipline unless we find its actions
to have been unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious.
This Board has held on numerous previous occasions, as have other Boards
involving these same parties, that if an employee fails to cooperate with a DABS program
and continues to turn up positive for illegal substances, he may be discharged. This
Board sees no reason in this case to set aside that long-standing policy. Therefore, the
claim will be denied.
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AWARD
Claim denied.
D. . tholomay
Organization Member
Peter R Meye
Neutral a er
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E. N.- acobs, J
Carrier Member
DATED:
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