NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, PETITIONER,

v.

PATRICK PLAZA DODGE, INC., RESPONDENT

PER CURIAM.

The Board moves for a modification of the opinion by striking out the following two sentences.

“[E]vidence . . . which gives equal support to inconsistent inferences” is not enough. Were the rule otherwise, any employee who had been guilty of conduct warranting discharge could protect himself by openly engaging in union activities, and run for luck, a procedure well illustrated in Billen. Its position is the general one that where two inferences can be drawn, the court is not warranted in concluding that the Board’s inference is the less reasonable. No one questions that proposition. Our opinion addressed itself to the more restricted situation, also well known, where it cannot be fairly said that evidence warranted a particular conclusion as distinguished from the opposite.

Evidence that points equally in two directions points in neither, and therefore cannot satisfy the burden of proof. The defect cannot be cured by the alleged right of the trier of fact to draw inferences and make selections. A familiar example is the principle that the legislature cannot establish a presumption of fact upon evidence that is equally consistent with the opposite conclusion. United States v. Romano, 1965, 382 U.S. 136, 86 S.Ct. 279, 15 L.Ed.2d 210, with which compare United States v. Gainey, 1965, 380 U.S. 63, 85 S.Ct. 754, 13 L.Ed.2d 658. We reiterate that the Board cannot meet its burden of showing a wrongful motive for a discharge without having something affirmative to point to. This is in no way contrary to NLRB v. Walton Mfg. Co., 1962, 369 U.S. 404, 82 S.Ct. 853, 7 L.Ed.2d 829, on which the Board would rely.

The petition for modification is denied.

. Local Lodge 598, International Ass’n of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO.

. Respondent does not contest this last aspect, conceding that there was evidence to support the charge. Because at first blush this admission would appear to damage its denial of evidence supporting the claim of wrongful discharges, we will deal with this in a footnote later. . The judge made frequent reference to the fact that Billings said he was sorry to do this. It will be a sad day if civility forms a basis of an unfair labor charge.

. “Thus, but for the time of the events involved, it would appear that these facts alone establish a failure on the part of the General Counsel to make out a prima facie case.” We know of no decision holding coincidence in time sufficient to make out a case. See, e. g., Amyx Industries, Inc. v. NLRB, 8 Cir., 1972, 457 F. 2d 904, 906.

. In fairness to the judge, there entered in his thinking a disaffection for respondent’s owner, Kerns. We do not find this supportive of his substantive conclusions. See n. 7, post.

. Hager was, basically, a good worker, and was needed back. When respondent concluded to call him back he was told that he had spent too much time talking with Spangler, an obstacle now removed by Spangler’s discharge. Hager testified that this had been true.

. Two matters are perhaps worth an extended footnote. We suspect the main reason that the judge may have taken his eye off the ball was a manifested dislike of respondent’s owner, Kerns. Even on the cold record it is difficult to be unsympathetic with the judge. From shuffling papers after being told not to, to continuous extensive and unresponsive answers, Kerns was a most unsatisfactory witness. We see no basis, however, for characterizing his testimony as “inherently implausible.” At most, except for what is recited below, the inconsistencies were minor. Where the reasons for discharge were supported, the fact that to some extent he and Billings may have assigned different reasons does not mean that they were pretextual. Cf. Dubin-Haskell Lining Corp. v. NLRB, 4 Cir., 1967, 375 F. 2d 568, at 573-74.

Secondly, we do not regard respondent’s announcing new benefits on January 23 as eviderme that it knew of the unionizing. Respondent did know the employees were displeased by the cancellation of their guaranteed weekly minimum — they had complained to Gill about it. They had also remarked to Gill that the service department at Ford was on strike. In these circumstances it would be natural, albeit unwise, for respondent to try to take out a little insurance. We cannot say the judge was unwarranted in rejecting Kern’s testimony that he had decided to make these changes when he terminated the weekly minimum three weeks before. But from that disbelief the Board cannot make out a whole case.

. Even if the cards of the four dischargees, and the one who quit are disregarded, with six less employees, i. e., sixteen, ten cards was a clear majority.