PARTIES TO THE DISPUTE:
 The Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad and )
 The Lake Erie a~ Eastern Railroad Companies. )
                vs ) Case No. 3.


The Brotherhood of Maintenance of )
 Way Employes. )
 STATEMENT OF CLAIM:

 Claim on behalf of B&B Carpenter A. J. Gray that the discipline in the favor of thirty (30) working days actual suspension as a result of hearing held at Pittsburgh, Pa., May 28, 1980 be removed from his record and that he be paid for all monetary losses sustained. OPINION OF THE BOARD:
 Mr. A. J. Gray, the Claimant, entered the service of the Carrier on September 9, 1974, and was employed as a Carpenter in the Carrier's Bridge and Building Department at McKees Rocks, Pa. On April 28, 1980, along with two other employes, E. H. Altmeyer and A. Bahney, was assigned, with hours from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., with an assigned lunch period from 12:00 Noon to 12:30 P.M., to install canvas curtains around an area used for the spray painting of locomotives within the confines of Carrier's Diesel Repair Shop facility at McKees Rocks. The project involved working on scaffolding approximately 40 feet off the ground. About 3:00 P.M. Maintenance and Construction Engineer J. J. Sturman and Supervisor of Bridges & Buildings J. R. Bednar arrived at the work site to inspect the progress of the curtain installation when they found Claimant and employee Bahney missing from the work site. Employee Altmeyer was found asleep. The curtain installation was not completed and the new canvas was found
 2 on the floor.
 About.3;30 P.M. Claimant Gray was sighted some dist ance from the property and was approached by Mr. Sturman. Claimant Gray admitted that he did not have permission to leave the work site and that he had been visiting a friend.
 Separate charges were filed against employee Altmeyer andnone were filed against Bahney as he had stated that he was in the men's room and had no knowledge of the incident.
            On May 1, 1980, Claimant Gray was charged with absent-

ing himself from duty without permission and ordered to attend an
 investigation on May 19, 1980, to determine his responsibility.
 After an agreed upon postponement the investigation was held on
 May 28, 1980. A copy of the transcript was made a part of the re
 cord. A careful reading of the transcript indicates Claimant was
 given a fair and impartial hearing. He was represented by three
 offiers of his Organization, including his General Chairman, he
 was given the opportunity to produce witnesses in his behalf, but
 chose not to, and he and his representatives were given full oppor
 tunity to examine and cros~ I examine Carrier's witnesses, which they
 did extensively.
 On June 16, 1980, the Carrier, after finding Claimant guilty of the charges, formally suspended him for a total of thirty (30) work days without pay, for violation of Rule J-1 of the Carrier's General Rules.
            Rule J-1 reads as follows:


        "Employees will not absent themselves from duty without proper authority."

The record clearly shows Claimant left his work site and absented himself from duty and was off the property for at
 least 30 minutes without authority. The transcript shows Claimant

                                                    3o1o3-a-

-'testifying to this violation of the rule.
              In det.nse,. Claimant and his rej,~esentatives, argue

that there were diesel. Rimes present in the area of the work loco.
 tion 40 feet above the ground and they were becoming nauseated
 and removed themselves: from the scaffolding. Claimant Gray, in
 the investigation said he needed fresh air and took a walls. It
 should be noted that he first told. his supervisors when accosted
 off the property tha.t he was. visiting. a friend. At the investiga
 tion: he changed his story to indicate that-he went for cigaretes
 and a'popr~. It shoes also be naiad that the argument that they
 were subject to becoming overcome by diesel fumes was first raised
 in: the investigation- The supervisors who found Claimant and the
 others away from their work Lac atioa were not informed of the
 alleged: problem. with diesel .fumes.. - Additionally, Carrier maintains
 . a madicaL facilltr- £n. tha· psoximlty` of the work location and Claim
 ant, Grass had to pass. they medical faci=y on his way up town. It
 seems obvious tot hits 3aazd' that as individual nauseated by diesel
 fumes would havs-regortad` this to hia sspetvisors and reported to
 they aurae whop was; am daty·.az' the madfcaz facilitp.
 The Caz~z has proved it= casep and this Board- can frock no. basis foz-dlsterbiag the dlscipline· imposed. FTtIVG-zFtCSz . That` ths.Agraement was not: violated. AGiARD z . Claim: denied'.

 R)nhert LaWrF
 ~~ & New
 .Geofzrii-rj= Zell Richard n. `Jones
 Labor Msmbe=z,/ Carrier Member

    May.

      ~'t _I982

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