DUBLIN – US financial institution Merrill Lynch has fired 13 staff members at the Dublin branch of its operation, alleging that the employees transmitted pornographic material through the company’s email system.The firings follow the suspension of 20 employees last week, following an internal investigation at Merrill Lynch into the sending of sexually explicit emails.

“Of the 20, 13 have been terminated, and seven have received written warnings,” a spokesman for Merrill Lynch told The Irish Times. “The seven can return to work on Monday. All have the right to appeal.”

According to an anonymous source cited by the Times, the 20 suspended employees included both male and female employees. The same source said the incident began when two staff members sent pornographic emails to a client, leading to the termination of both employees.

After the firing of the two employees, an internal investigation was launched, leading to the 20 suspensions and 10 other employees being issued written warnings. According to the Times, the 10 employees who received warnings must now be retrained on use of the Internet and email, but will not be fined or suspended.

In a similar incident, the UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea fired 14 staff members earlier this month for sending pornographic email attachments to each other and to individuals outside the agency. More than 100 other employees of the DVLA will face disciplinary measures in connection with the incident, according to reports on SCMagazine.com.