A FORMER Bank of Ireland employee who was fired for sending “pornographic” e-mails from a work computer did so to convince people he was not gay, the Employment Appeals Tribunal heard yesterday.
James Reilly was a senior member of staff at the bank’s Blanchardstown branch in Dublin when he was fired in 2009 for what the bank decided was inappropriate behaviour.
Mr Reilly has brought the case before the tribunal citing unfair dismissal, claiming that the bank did not follow proper procedure.
While he has admitted to forwarding e-mails, Mr Reilly claims not to have read them and was therefore unaware of the exact content, which included images of naked children.
Patrick Lonergan – the Bank of Ireland branch manager who carried out the investigation into the e-mails – told the tribunal he had met with Mr Reilly in March, 2009 to discuss the issue. He said Mr Reilly was very emotional in that meeting and that he had described himself as being known to be a “ladies’ man in the area” and that forwarding on the e-mails was a way of hiding his homosexuality.
Mr Lonergan described the images sent via e-mail as “pornographic”, “indecent”, “obscene”, “rude” and “generally distasteful”. He said he came to his decision “by taking a commonsense approach – how would a reasonable person regard them?”
He went on to say that he had rejected Mr Reilly’s claims to have forwarded on the content without viewing it.
“I found it strange. I have never sent on an e-mail without reading it. You are unlikely to receive a letter in the post and send it on to someone without opening it,” he said.
The bank’s other witness yesterday, Brian Leahy, a member of Bank of Ireland’s information technology security team, also stated his belief that Mr Reilly had known what was in the e-mails.
He revealed to the tribunal that in one forwarded e-mail, Mr Reilly had changed to subject title from “what really happens at weight watchers’ meetings” to “Ian in his first brothel” before forwarding it to two junior colleagues.
“The subject would have to refer to the content,” said Mr Leahy, adding that this would suggest Mr Reilly had indeed known what was in the e-mail.
Mr Leahy, who has been a Bank of Ireland employee for 31 years, said the e-mails sent by Mr Reilly were “among the most unsettling that I have ever seen”.
The hearing was adjourned prior to Mr Lonergan’s cross-examination and is due to resume on November 15th.