AWARDS 95B- FALSIFICATION OF INJURY REPORT

Fourth Division Award No. 4850 (Simon)

"Claimant was dismissed from service effective October 13, 1990, for falsification of a personal injury report. The record shows Claimant filed a report on August 30, 1990, in which he claimed he bumped his knee on the side of an engine on November 21, 1989. According to the report, Claimant suffered a blood clot below the skin and a Baker's cyst. The following July, Claimant had surgery on his knee.

"Testimony by the manager on Claimant's shift indicates Claimant was limping prior to the start of the shift. He further stated Claimant had told him his leg had started swelling earlier in the day and denied that it was work related. Claimant received treatment at the hospital during the shift which began on November 21, 1989. Upon admission to the hospital, the hospital records indicate Claimant reported he first experienced pain on Sunday, which was November 19, 1989.

"Although Claimant offered testimony contradictory to Carrier's witnesses, we do not find Carrier acted unreasonably in concluding he falsified the injury report. The Board finds there is substantial evidence in the record to support the charge against Claimant.

"Turning to the appropriateness of the discipline imposed, the Board notes Claimant had been dismissed by Carrier on two previous occasions. He had also recently received a thirty day deferred suspension for being absent from duty without proper authority and falsification of a daily time report. Given Claimant's prior record, and the fact this case also involves the issue of falsification of records, we cannot find Claimant's dismissal to be either arbitrary or excessive. Accordingly, we will not disturb the Carrier's action."

Third Division Award No. 30251 (Wesman)

"The only witness to Claimant's alleged injury is Claimant herself None of her fellow employees saw the alleged incident, The physician to whom she initially reported, and the Clinic to which she later presented herself in the hopes of attaining a 'second opinion' found no evidence whatsoever of injury. Accordingly, there is substantial support on the record before the Board to support the Carrier's finding that Claimant's report was false.

"We are in agreement with Third Division Award 23530 which found as follows:

'The falsification of an on-duty injury report is a serious matter. It represents an attempt by Claimant to recover wages or benefits not properly due [her]. It is, in essence, a theft of Carrier property, compensation, which does not belong to the Claimant.'

^"In light of the fact that Claimant had been found guilty of a similar violation less than two years prior to this incident, and in view of the seriousness of the offense, we find:

1) that the Carrier reasonably withheld Claimant from service pending the Investigation; and 2) that the penalty of dismissal in this case is not excessive,^"