BEFORE PUBLIC LAW BOARD NO. 6043
BROTHERHOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYEES
and
ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD
Case No. 18
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
The Letter of Reprimand issued to Mr. S. Taylor for alleged violation of Carrier
General Rule C, Rule F, and Rule G-370 was arbitrary, unwarranted,
unreasonable, and in violation of the current working agreement. Accordingly,
the discipline should be rescinded, and the Claimant should be made whole.
FINDINGS:
At the time of the events leading to this claim, the Claimant was employed by the
Carrier as a trackman.
By letter dated March 23, 2001, the Claimant was notified to attend a formal
investigation and hearing to determine his "responsibility, if any, concerning the incident
at Delavan, IL on Monday, March 19, 2001, at approximately 08:30 AM in which you
sustained a personal injury." As a result of the investigation, the Claimant was found to
have violated General Rule C, Rule F, and Rule G-370, and a Letter of Reprimand was
placed in the Claimant's file. The Organization thereafter filed a claim on the Claimant's
behalf, challenging the Carrier's issuance of the Letter of Reprimand. The Carrier denied
the claim. The parties agreed to submit to this Board that portion of the claim that deals
with the Carrier's assessment of discipline.
The Carrier contends that it was determined in the investigation that the Claimant
was in violation of Carrier rules and that the Claimant admitted that he was not in
'PL
B (.043
l1wd 18
compliance with the rules on the date in question. The Carrier points out that in response
to these violations, the Claimant received only a Letter of Reprimand. The Carrier
maintains that this discipline was neither harsh nor excessive. The Carrier ultimately
asserts that the instant claim is without merit and should be denied in its entirety.
The Organization contends that the discipline issued to the Claimant in this case
was arbitrary, unwarranted, unreasonable, and in violation of the current Agreement. The
Organization asserts that the Carrier failed to apply and enforce its rules with reasonable
uniformity. The Organization also points out that the Claimant's unblemished service
record requires that he receive the benefit of progressive discipline. The Organization
argues that the Carrier's decision to discipline the Claimant twice therefore should be
vitiated.
The Organization further maintains that the Carrier failed to afford the Claimant
his due process rights. The Organization asserts that a review of the record demonstrates
that the Carrier failed to present any credible evidence to support the charges leveled
against the Claimant. The Organization therefore asserts that the assessed discipline is
arbitrary, capricious, unwarranted, and excessive. Accordingly, the Organization
contends that the instant claim should be sustained, the discipline rescinded, and the
Claimant made whole.
The parties being unable to resolve their dispute, this matter came before this
Board.
pL8 (o043
ALOCI
18
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 was
guilty of violating Carrier Rules C, F, and G-370. The record reveals that the Claimant
violated several rules when he performed his work on the date in question and those rule
violations contributed to the accident sustained by the Claimant.
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 case only involved the issuance of a Letter of Reprimand. Given the rule
violations that the Claimant was guilty of, this Board cannot find that the Carrier acted
unreasonably, arbitrarily, or capriciously when it issued the Letter of Reprimand.
Therefore, the claim will be denied.
AWARD:
The claim is denied.
NIZATIO BER
DA:JI'p-~,
noq
(P ~TE , EYERS
Neutral Member
CAR KR MEM ER
DATED:
io