Parties Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
 to and
 Dispute Southern Pacific Transportation Company
 Texas and Louisiana Lines
 Statement Claim of B of M of W E and request that "Mr. A. Solomon, Jr., be reinstated
 of Claim: to his former position with pay for ail time lost and with vacation,
 seniority, insurance and all other rights unimpaired. Also that his
 record be cleared of this charge.
 Findings: The Board finds, after hearing upon the whole record and all evidence,
 that the parties herein are Carrier and Employee within the meaning of
 the Railway Labor Act, as amended, that this Board is duly constituted
 by Agreement dated March 23, 1977, that it has jurisdiction of the par
 ties and the subject matter, and that the parties were given due notice
 of the hearings held.
 Claimant, a system machine operator headquartered at Houston, Texas, was
 dismissed from Carrier's service; November 23, 1976, for falsification
 of his Personal Expense Account.
 1he Board finds that Claimant was accorded due process. The record
 provides sufficient tent and probative evidence to support Carrier's
 conclusions as to Claimant's culpability. It reflects that Claimant had,
 on numerous occasions, showed personal expenses at Woodville and Kountze
 while, in fact, he stayed and put in lodging receipts for a room at Beau
 mont. The subsequent long investigation disclosed that the receipts turned
 in by Claimant were signed in the name of "Mrs. Linda Tbmkins" and "Tenolia
 Steward." These were the names of his foster child and his wife from
 whom he was estranged.
 The Board would not otherwise interfere with the discipline assessed but
 it did find circumstances which serve to mitigate the discipline imposed.
 It cannot conclude that the employee was dishonest. He was well-meaning
 but wrong. The instructions covering the expense form involved are vague
 and the expense forms leave much to be desired. They should be revised
          to be inure specific and thus avoid a situation of this type. He was away

                                          PL 6 )qa5


                            -2- Award No. 12


          from home and otherwise entitled to a lodging expnse. He stayed in a private home. The existing instructions do not specifically prohibit what occurred. Claimant's actions, although wrong, were not wilfully perpetrated to defraud Carrier. The rates that claimant paid were lower than the prevailing rates at Kountze and Woodville. The majority here concludes that Claimant should be reinstated to service, but without pay for the time held out of service and that the instructions covering expenses be rewritten in a clarifying manner so that, if an employee earns expense entitlarent and claims such entitlement in a manner not inconsistent with the new construction, he will not then be charged with falsifying his expense account.


Award: Claim disposed of as per findings.

          Order: Carrier is directed to make this 'Award effective within thirty (30) days fo date of issuance shown below.


A. J. Cur-ngbam, Employee Nerber R. W. Hickoan, Carrier Meriber

                    -~- le~

                              ~./' .~I

                    Anhur T. Van Wart, Chairman and Neutral Member


                  Issued at Falmouth, Massachusetts, SeptEnber 7, 7977.