Nick Aguirre was the new kid on the block at Plaza Auto in Yuma, Arizona.  Unlike the seasoned salespersons, Aguirre complained to co-workers and management about his commissions, breaks and lunch periods.  Some of his complaints sound reasonable.  For example, he wanted to know the commission schedule for sales of particular cars.  But Aguirre was also a bit of a whiner, someone who could get under the skin of the boss.  And that is exactly what he did.  

The boss pulled Aguirre into his office, told him that he was too negative and that he was affecting the other sales staff.  Aguirre lost control, stood up, pushing his chair to the side.  He called the boss a mother f******* crook and an ass****.  Aguirre told the boss that everyone talked about him behind his back, and that no one liked him.  He ended by saying, “And you will regret it if you fire me.”  Taking up the challenge, the boss fired Aguirre.  

Aguirre claimed that he was fired in violation of his right to engage in concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act.  The boss defended, claiming the outburst constituted insubordination and justified the termination decision.  

There really wasn’t much question whether Aguirre’s prior conduct concerted activity.  The question addressed. The question before the Board was whether Aguirre’s conduct was so opprobrious that Aguirre lost protection under the Act.  

Look up opprobrious in the dictionary you may find the terms reproach, disgraceful or shameful.  In my opinion, Aguirre actions were opprobrious.  However, my opinion does not count.  The Board’s opinion matters. 

The Board considers several factors in determining if behavior is sufficiently opprobrious for the worker to lose protection under the Act.  They are:  (1) The circumstances of the discussion; (2) the substance of the discussion; (3) whether there was an unfair labor practice; and (4) the nature of the outburst.  

In this case, the incident took place behind closed doors, with the boss, discussing Aguirre’s workplace complaints of unpaid wages and other things.  The language was coarse but not accompanied by violence.  Thus, the Board concluded that Aguirre’s behavior was not opprobrious.  

I wonder if the boss regrets firing Aguirre.  I’m sure he regrets hiring Aguirre!