Disciplinary action was taken by London law firm Norton Rose against Bradley Chait who became famous in the UK last week for an e-mail exchange that originated when his girlfriend, Claire Swire, sent him a sex joke. His firm has today said that he can keep his job.
The Financial Services Authority has suspended nine members of staff because they received and forwarded the e-mail exchange between Bradley and Claire in breach of the organisation's e-mail policy. The IT department of the FSA is said to be investigating the logs of others which could mean further suspensions are still to come.
Insurance giant Royal & SunAlliance has suspended 41 staff for distributing lewd Bart Simpson cartoons as e-mail attachments. The decision followed the receipt by one of the company’s directors of the offending e-mail.
A spokesman for the company said: “We do have a strict policy in place covering use of technology on work premises. We have told our employees and have said we would definitely enforce the policy.”
Meanwhile, in a statement released today, Bradley Chait's employers said:
"Naturally, we are disappointed in the behaviour of certain employees and concerned about a clear breach of Norton Rose’s employment terms and conditions. This is an internal matter but to avoid speculation we would like to state that the employees have been disciplined but not dismissed. Dismissal was considered but not felt appropriate.
"The employees concerned are horrified by the consequences of, and genuinely regret, their actions.
"The firm regrets any offence caused by these employees, who reacted to a private email originating outside the firm."
See our guide on internet and e-mail policies.