PUBUC1.4W BOARD N()..7544
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way )
Employees Divisionw lBT l
Rall Conference )
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sooLine ttallroad company (CP) )
Award NCJ.17'
System FIie No. 0-181-16-445·9&
Baclqm:,und
On September 29, 201,6, the Carrier l$$Ued to Claimant D. Gabbet a notlce of formal Investigation and
hearing. The notice stated, In part,.thefollowtns; ·
"thepurpose of the lnvestfgation/flearlngJsto dirtermlne theJacu anddtcumstances and to place responstblllty, if any, In eonnectfon with you.allegedly strlfdng an angle bar without glvins any advance warning toan employee workln1 directly rn front of you on September 28', 2016. This Indicates a posslbl-, vfotatlon of, but Is.not ffmlted tO; thefollowtng rules:
GCOft1,1,k Matnta1n1n1 a 5* eoura
Safety HaQdt,ggk ..Precaut1ctn1wb!l1$Wlom1Jqols121"
On October 24, 2016, the fnvestlgatlon and hearing«;0nvened wherein Claimant and his representative presented testlmpny and other evidence andexamined the Carrier's two(2) witnesses and eight (8) eichibl
On November 2. 2016, the Assistant Director· Productlort South Issued a decision letter toClaimant stating that the re«;0rd of the proceedlns estabtlshed .Qafmant"s rules violations ascharged. Based on the evtdentlarv record, severity of theincident, and Clalmant's past disciplinary history; CP dismissed Claimant fromsetvlce effective Immediately.
Oil Dt1cember 20l2016, the Organization and the Carner agreed to progressClaimant's dlsdptlne disputa for resolutlcm before thfs Board using theabbreviated procedure provided for In Paragraph (K) of the PL& Agreement;
Flhd1na
Publfc Law Board No. 7544, upon the whole record and alt theevidence, finds that the parties herein are carrier and Employes within the meanlns of11\aRallway Labor Act, asamendedi that the Board has Jurisdiction over the dispute herein; and that the parties to thedispute were given due notice of the hearing and did participate therein.
PLBNo.7544
Casa No.77
AwardNo.n
Consistent with the PLBAgreement for this Soard; the evldentiary record In this proceedlns rs comprised of thefollowing: (A) notice of fnvestlgation, (Bf transcript of Investigation and all related exhibits, (C) dlsclpllne asse5Sment letter and(D) on11ropeny correspondence related to progresston of theclalm.
At theoutset.of the:heartn& the BMW£ objected to CP's wlthhotdlnaClaimant froMservice - - effective September 29, 2016-- without a reason and prior to a hearing. Wlthhc>ldlns Claimant from service. shows a r,,redeterMlned outcome by CP which serves as a denial of due process:far Claima11t. The.
Organization requested Claimant's Immediate reinstatement. The Board finds.that theOrpnlzatfonand the earner agreed to Rule 20whlth allows CP to withhold an emplcyee from service for serious rules.
Infractions which, in this proceeding, wasan injury to a cg,.woticer. In th• clrcumstanc:etof this
proceeding the:earner acted In accordance with the·rule and,.in dolngso,Cfalmant recelVed a fair and Jmpartlal hearing
OnSeptember 28,2016, the Assistant RDadmaster was Informed that Claimant, a welder on a production crew with approximately ten{:tO)years of service with CP, struck a bolt wedsed In a set of angle bars With a ten (10} pound sled1e hammer without providing wamfn1to a co-worker positioned dlrectlvacross theangle bar from Claimant. Toa co-worker's flnger was between the bolt and angle. bar;
claimant's action pinched theco,,worker's finger caustna .sweflln• and throbbing pain.
Claimant Is rulesqualified and recognized that theco-worker was positioned directly In the path of Claimant's swing. Claimant adcnowtedges that ln thissituation. he was requited to provide prior or advance wamln totheco,.worker before swlnelngthetool,e.g;, sledge hammer. Advanced wamln1 is
required by the Safety Handbook, Precautions whlleSwtn11n1Toolt; #21. Clatmant alsoviolated GCOR
1,1;1, Mafntainrn1aSafe Course, andGCOftl.1.2, Alert and Attentive.
There issubstantial evlden(e In support of the rules violations. The Carrier's decision to dfsmiss Clafmant from service was not arbitrary oran abuse of dtsc:retlon. The Soard wlll deny theclaim.
Claim denied.
Patrick Halter
Neutral Member
Anth o
Carrier Member
Dated on this 5/lt day
Of Jan I • 2011
Ryan. Hidalgo.
Organlzatlttn Member
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