Senior government bureaucrat warned over emailed topless Christmas photo A SENIOR bureaucrat was reprimanded about his inappropriate use of state government email several years before being sacked for accessing pornography at work, a court has heard. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was "counselled" after sending an email that contained images of a "topless female," to at least 40 colleagues. The message, sent on December 21, 2007, was meant to wish his co-workers a Merry Christmas and thank them for their hard work, but he had not "viewed the entire attachment." The man was later "counselled" when he assured superiors any "inappropriate use" of email would not occur again. The details emerged last year at the state's Industrial Relations Commission when the manager, aged in his 50s, unsuccessfully sued for unfair dismissal. In the 2007 incident, a colleague had complained they were "deeply offended" and "expressed outrage" to management. The head of his department interviewed him and later wrote to the offended colleague apologising for the "error of judgment made in haste." The manager himself later counselled a colleague against use of department resources "to download inappropriate internet content." Throughout 2010 and 2011, he became part of a network in which he sent and received almost 150 pornographic emails at work. More than 1000 explicit images were deemed to be at the "serious end of the pornography spectrum." In May last year, SA Health sacked him for "serious and wilful misconduct," bringing to an end an "exemplary" and "unblemished," 35-year public sector career. Officials found he had failed to "lead by example and to model behaviour" and instead engaged in conduct "unbecoming of a manager and ­leader." He launched legal action over his "harsh, unjust or unreasonable" sacking, despite having being rehired at another agency, Multicultural SA. While not criminal, the conduct of the man, whose identity is protected by a suppression order, was extremely serious and could have prompted sexual harassment complaints. He had suffered significant emotional, financial and domestic problems that "clouded his judgment" and caused depression. A failed business venture with his wife led to bankruptcy and forced them to sell their home for $487,000 at "significantly less" than the market value. His son, meanwhile, was unemployed and his sacking had caused "severe embarrassment" to his wife and family. But in dismissing his case, IRC deputy president Karen Bartel ruled the sacking was within the range of "reasonable responses." He was contrite, would struggle to find work and received "unequal treatment" to others involved in the scandal, she acknowledged. But she added: "With respect, I do not adopt this characterisation of a 'single act of misconduct'. I am of the view that the extent and frequency of [the man's] breaches of the employer's policies are relevant to the characterisation of misconduct.