i
Award No.
5
S.B.A. Case No.
5
(Third Division Docket No.
9602)
SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT N0.
313
BROTHERHOOD OF MAINTENANCE OF WAY EMPLOYES
and
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY
STATEMENT
OF CLAIM: "Claim of the System Committee of the Brotherhood that:
"(1) The dismissal of Seetionman Henry T. Archuleta from
service on December
25, 1955,
was without just and
sufficient cause and in violation of the effective
Agreement;
"(2)
Sectionman Henry T. Archuleta be restored to service
with seniority and vacation rights unimpaired and reimbursed for all wage loss suffered in conformity
with Rule
40
(d) because of the violation referred
to in part (1) of this claim."
FINDINGS: Special Board of Adjustment No.
313,
after giving the parties to this
dispute due notice of hearing thereon and upon the whole record and all
the evidence, finds and holds:
The Carrier and employes involved in this dispute are respectively
carrier and employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act, as approved
June
21, 1934.
This Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.
Claimant's insubordination or refusal to obey instruction in this case, for
which he was discharged, was not exactly a refusal to work or perform his work as
directed, but a refusal to ride in the rear of a jeep loaded with tools over wet,
snowy and bumpy roads.
As offenses go, and comparing it with the grounds for discharge in other
cases, it should not be classed in the category of serious offenses. We find his
dismissal and loss of pay from December
25, 1955,
to September
27, 1956,
was arbitrary and disproportionate to the offense.
Claimant was reinstated September
27, 1956,
with seniority and other
rights and without prejudice to his claim, and thus his loss of work extended over
nine months only, but we do not believe his offense to be the type for which an
employee should lose his livelihood for nine months.
We have serious doubts as to the reality of the alleged safety hazard
as presented by the organization. Claimant's action could well have been motivated
by some fear for his safety and to this extent is justified, but it appears to have
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Award No.
5
- Page 2
been motivated also by the discomfort involved. We see some mitigating circumstances in the case.
Although we may be charged with substituting our judgment for that of
management as to the proper measure or degree of discipline, in view of our opinion
that the discipline was arbitrary and disproportionate, we find that claimant should
be reimbursed for the time lost, less one month's wages.
AWARD:
Claim sustained in part and denied in part. Claimant will be restored
and reimbursed for time lost, less one month's wages.
SPECIAL BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT N0.
313
(s) Marion Beatty
Marion Beatty, Chairman
(s) A. J. Cunningham
A. J. Cunningham, Organization Member
(s) A. D. Hanson
A. D. Hanson, Carrier Member
Omaha, Nebraska
June 10,
1960