Court Opinion

ID: 9469715
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:47:14.436856+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:31.601110
License: Public Domain

WILL, Senior District Judge,
concurring.
I join in the affirmance of the district court’s order on the ground that the defendant-appellant, Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company (L&N), has presented no ground on which either the district court or we may properly set aside the special adjustment board’s finding that the claim of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) on behalf of G.L. Choate (Choate), one of its members, was sustained. Nor does Judge Posner in his opinion suggest that the L&N has done so.
The only ground suggested as a basis for remanding the case to the district court with instructions to remand it to the adjustment board for a second interpretation of its award (L&N having previously requested and received an interpretation), is that the first interpretation is ambiguous as to whether or not the amount to be paid Choate by the L&N should be reduced by any amounts which he received from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) as disability payments during the period covered by the award. Although the first interpretation is not a model of clarity, upon a careful reading of the record, I find little or no ambiguity.
The special adjustment board has twice stated that the BRS claim of improper dismissal was sustained. That claim sought relief under Rule 55 of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties which provides in pertinent part, “if the charge or charges against an employee are not sustained [as here], his record shall be cleared of the charge or charges and if suspended or dismissed he shall be reinstated with all rights unimpaired and paid for time lost.”
The board, in its interpretation, stated that “this Board intended that Carrier comply fully with the provisions of Rule 55 with respect to Claimant as the remedy in this dispute.”
It seems clear to me that the special adjustment board found that Choate had been improperly dismissed, and that the L&N, under Rule 55, owed Choate reinstatement and compensation from the date of the improper dismissal. That the board so concluded seems obvious from the fact that, although they were advised of Choate’s receipt of disability payments during part of the period after his dismissal, they reiterated that his claim of improper dismissal was sustained and that the L&N was obligated to “comply fully with Rule 55.”
Since the board knew Choate had received disability payments, it follows that the members did not believe the L&N was entitled to deduct the amount of any such payments or they would have said so. That conclusion is in no way negated by the board’s statement that matters of compliance are for the courts to decide. Compliance and interpretation are different though related. The BRS has asked the courts to enforce the special adjustment board’s conclusions that Choate was improperly dismissed and is entitled to full compliance with Rule 55. That is what Judge Beatty ordered and what affirmance will finally achieve: compliance by the L&N with the board’s order.
As I see it, two bottom line conclusions appear. First, the special adjustment board found that under Rule 55, the L&N, having improperly dismissed Choate, is not entitled to have its obligations under the collective bargaining agreement reduced because *545Choate may have received disability payments, unemployment compensation or other income during the period of his improper discharge. Second, if Choate improperly received disability payments from the RRB, as seems likely, there is a mechanism for the recovery of such amounts by the RRB but not by the L&N. Under the circumstances, I see no reason to remand this already over-extended case to the district court with instructions that it remand it back to the special adjustment board for yet another interpretation. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in Judge Wood’s and Judge Beatty’s opinions, as well as those set forth herein, I join in the affirmance of the district court’s order.