Mankins, who had worked at the paper for 16 years, was vice president of his union and was assistant chairman or substitute steward on his shift. He complained to his supervisor that a co-worker was spending too much time talking to the supervisor and was neglecting his duties. Months later, the supervisor had a meeting with the pressmen and told them their work the night before was not good and they needed to improve their teamwork. Mankins, who is black, as are most of the pressmen, told the supervisor, who is white, that he did not treat people equally, that he was a racist, and that the paper was a racist place to work. 

An hour later he was called to the supervisor’s office where he was told his behavior was unacceptable and he would be suspended if it continued. On exiting, he again called the supervisor and paper racist. He was suspended and told to go home. He then called the supervisor a “bastard” and a “redneck son of a bitch.” He then was fired for insubordination. He claimed he was engaged in protected activity because he was protecting management’s treatment of employees. Should he be protected under the NLRA? Why?