Opinion ID: 468822
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: May 24 Discharge.

Text: 26 At the time of the May 20 written warning, Evans's supervisor called Evans in and informed him of the disciplinary action. His supervisor read him the written warning and asked him to sign it. Evans responded that the warning was based on facts which were not true and that he believed he was being singled out for his union activities. When his supervisor insisted that he sign the warnings, or else the warning would be placed in Evans's file anyway, Evans became angry and used abusive, profane and threatening language toward his supervisor. The supervisor viewed these remarks as insubordination and threats, and recommended that Evans be discharged. On May 24, Evans was discharged for total disrespect to your supervisor and abusive, derogatory and threatening comments. The ALJ found that the Company was justified in discharging Evans because of his abusive and threatening language. He noted that participation in union activities does not insulate an employee from discharge for insubordinate conduct, and rejected the general counsel's argument that the firing of Evans for profane language was discriminatory because other employees had not been discharged for the same conduct. 27 The Board reversed this finding. Applying the Wright Line test, it first concluded that there was overwhelming evidence that Evans's discharge was motivated by his union activities and then found that the Company failed to demonstrate that Evans would have been discharged absent that activity. It relied on the fact that other employees who used profanity had not been discharged, and that profanity was common in the workplace. In addition, the Board disagreed with the ALJ that Evans's comment, I'll have your ass, was a threat. The Board viewed this comment as an expression of a desire to file a grievance or report the supervisor's conduct to a higher authority. Finally, the Board found that even if Evans's comments were insubordinate, it would still find the discharge illegal because the Company provoked the conduct through repeated unlawful conduct. 28 On appeal, the Company asserts that the Board erred in equating its employees use of profanity during shoptalk to Evans's language which it claims was clearly insubordinate. The Board responds that even if Evans's comments were insubordinate, the Company provoked them by unlawfully threatening to discharge him on March 15, and by unlawfully issuing him an oral and written warning. It notes that the Company concedes that the discharge of Evans violated the Company's usual progressive disciplinary procedues--oral warning, written warning, final written warning and suspension or discharge, and that this precedence was departed from only rarely and then for substantial reasons. The Board finally argues that there is substantial evidence in the record to support its finding that Evans was fired not for his intemperate language but because of his union activities. 29 Several cases have analyzed employer discipline of employees for protected activity where the employee responded with intemperate language. See, e.g., NLRB v. Max Factor & Co., 640 F.2d at 205; Hawaiian Hauling Service, Ltd. v. NLRB, 545 F.2d 674, 676 n. 8 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 965, 97 S.Ct. 2921, 53 L.Ed.2d 1061 (1977); Dreis & Krump Mfg. Co. v. NLRB, 544 F.2d 320, 328-29 (7th Cir.1976); Falcon Plastics-Division of B-D Laboratories Inc. v. NLRB, 397 F.2d 965 (9th Cir.1968); Boaz Spinning Co. v. NLRB, 395 F.2d 512 (5th Cir.1968). The standard is whether [the employee's] improper conduct was so indefensible as to forfeit the Act's protection. Max Factor & Co., 640 F.2d at 205 (citing NLRB v. Washington Aluminum Co., 370 U.S. 9, 12, 82 S.Ct. 1099, 1101-11, 8 L.Ed.2d 298 (1962)). Additionally, an employer may not rely on employee conduct that it has unlawfully provoked as a basis for disciplining an employee, NLRB v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 694 F.2d 974, 978 (5th Cir.1982) (ordering back pay for employee disciplined for intemperate reaction to unlawful treatment by employer); NLRB v. Steiner Film, Inc., 669 F.2d 845, 851-52 (1st Cir.1982) (ordering reinstatement of employee discharged for intemperate reaction to discipline for protected activities); NLRB v. Florida Medical Center, Inc., 576 F.2d 666, 673 (5th Cir.1978) (same); NLRB v. Mueller Brass Co., 501 F.2d 680, 685-86 (5th Cir.1974) (explaining and applying doctrine of provoked insubordination); NLRB v. M & B Headware Co., 349 F.2d at 174 (same). 30 Applying these standards, we find substantial evidence in the record as a whole to support the Board's findings that Evans's conduct was not so indefensible as to forfeit the protection of the Act, and that, in any event, his remarks were unreasonably provoked by repeated Company violations of his rights under the Act, and, most importantly, that he would not have been discharged for his language had it not been for his union activities. 31 Affirmed.