An Australian banker who became an internet sensation after he was caught on live television viewing images of a scantily clad model on his computer will keep his job, Macquarie Bank said today.
"He will remain an employee of Macquarie," the bank said in a statement. "Macquarie and the employee apologise for any offence that may have been caused."
David Kiely, who works in Macquarie Private Wealth in Sydney, opened emails on Tuesday containing pictures of model Miranda Kerr, unaware a colleague behind him was doing a live television interview about the Australian economy.
Local media have reported that Mr Kiely may have been set up, with one of the emails ending with the words "turn around now".
The incident became a YouTube hit and sparked an online campaign that urged forgiveness.
The financial website Here is the City News set up a 'Save Dave' page encouraging readers to email the public relations department of Macquarie Bank to save Kiely's job.
The web campaign listed four reasons why Mr Kiely should be allowed to keep his job: he seems like a nice bloke; the photographs were not hardcore; he has suffered enough, and there's just too much political correctness in this world anyway.
Reuters