PUBLIC LAW BOARD NO. 5606
PARTIES) BROTHERHOOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYES
TO )
DISPUTE) SPRINGFIELD TERMINAL RAILWAY COMPANY
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
1. The entry of reprimand plus three (3) days suspension from service to
be served from June 14, 1999 through June 16, 1999 by Foreman S. P.
Keniston for his alleged violation of Rules GR-A, GR-C arid 329(d)
when he allegedly failed to wear his seat belt while being in a
company vehicle coming into Rigby Yard at approximately 111:30
A.M. on April 1, 1999 was without just and sufficient cause and in
violation of the Agreement.
2. As a consequence of the aforesaid violations, Foreman S. P. Keniston
shall now be compensated all wage loss suffered and have his record
cleared of the incident. (Carrier File: MW-99-13)
FINDINGS:
The Board, after hearing upon the whole record and all the evidence, finds that the parties
herein are Carrier and Employee within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as
amended; this Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein; and, the parties
were given due notice of hearing thereon.
It is evident that the transcript of investigation as prepared from a tape recording of a
hearing accorded the Claimant on May 5, 1999 leaves much to be desired. No less than
33 pages of the 60-page transcript contain either notations that the tape machine had cut
out, blank spaces in testimony, question marks after words that the transcriber found to be
questionable, and instances where there is an apparent lack of continuity from one tape to
another.
The Board does not find that it may excuse the failure to produce a full transcript because
reportedly the clerk transcribing the hearing was not able to understand certain portions
of testimony. The Carrier has a contractual responsibility to provide a full and accurate
transcript. Nor does the Board find reason to hold, as the Carrier urges, that while some
of the testimony was unintelligible, the majority of the transcript is intact, and what is
undeniable within the transcript is the fact that the Claimant, as charged, was not wearing
his seat belt while riding in a company vehicle.
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AWARD NO. 13
CASE NO. 13
As stated in Award No. 2166 of the Fourth Division, NRAB, ARSA v. CNW, with the
Honorable Dr. Jacob Seidenberg as the chair and neutral member, which language we
affirm and adopt as being likewise dispositive of the instant case:
The Claimant is contractually entitled to a fair and impartial hearing and to
a transcript that completely represents what took place at the hearing.
This must obviously be so because the transcript is not only the basis of
the original discipline, but it is also the only basis for prosecuting an
appeal from the original determination. It is true that at the oral hearing
before the Division the Carrier stated that only minor details were omitted
from the transcript, but what may be minor to the Carrier could well be
major to the Organization. This sort of transcript is not designed to inspire
confidence as to its completeness.
Accordingly, the Board finds, as did the Fourth Division in Award No. 2166, that in view
of there being a rather incomplete transcript that it is not necessary or proper to review
the substantive aspects of the case. The claim will, therefore, be sustained.
AWARD:
Claim sustained.
Robert E. Peterson
Chair & Neutral Member
Timothy W. McNulty
Carrier Member
` Stuart A. Hulburt, J .
Organization Member
North Billerica, MA
Dated 77'%J)Je~
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