Circulation of offensive emails ‘was endemic’

THE circulation and distribution of offensive and inappropriate emails between junior staff and their superiors was “endemic” within a division of the Bank of Ireland, an Employment Appeals Tribunal has heard.

Two former employees of the ICS Building Society — part of the Bank of Ireland Group — claimed there was a culture of exchanging such emails which the bank’s own lawyers had branded as “extreme and revolting porn”.

They also described the bank’s investigation into the exchange of such emails as “fundamentally flawed”.

The two former staff — Sarah Murray, aged 25, from Ballybrack, Co Dublin, and Sarah Rooney, aged 25, from Glasthule, Co Dublin — claim they were unfairly dismissed by the bank in September 2009 after an internal investigation found they had circulated some of the emails.

They claim the bank, which disciplined 10 out of 33 staff investigated over the issue, targeted junior female workers and failed to investigate many of their superiors who also were involved in the exchange of the offensive emails.

Kevin D’Arcy BL, for the two claimants, said a further 43 individuals which included some of his clients’ supervisors and team leaders, who were identified from just 10 emails were never investigated by the bank.

Mr D’Arcy also questioned if the bank had carried out any further investigations after some of these 43 employees had been identified at an earlier hearing in the case last January.

Larry O’Gara of the bank’s human resources department said he was unaware of any such inquiry but he could not explain why none was conducted.

Mr O’Gara said the bank had investigated 33 staff on the basis they had received inappropriate emails.

However, Mr D’Arcy said the bank had failed to conduct any inquiries into bank staff, including one of the women’s supervisors, who were the original senders of the material.

Under cross-examination, Mr O’Gara admitted one of these email’s sent by Ms Rooney’s supervisor was “wholly inappropriate and distasteful”. “They are not jocular or humorous in any way,” he said.

He rejected any suggestion that a culture of sending such material was endemic within the bank, given it has a total staff of 14,000 people.

Mr D’Arcy reminded him Ms Rooney told him at a disciplinary hearing that the exchange of such emails was “going on all the time”.

However, Mr O’Gara said he hadn’t taken any further action as she had failed to back up such a claim with any evidence.

He acknowledged that a large number of inappropriate emails were in circulation within the bank.

But Mr O’Gara said the suggestion that the bank used the issue to get rid of staff was “outrageous and wholly inaccurate”.

The hearing continues today.