He may have been looking at something he shouldn't have. On company time. On a company computer. During a television live shot. Seen all over the world. Including here on this blog.
But the Macquarie investment banker caught checking out nude photos on his computer on Australian TV is not without friends.
According to press reports, the trader in question is David Kiely, and he is in some serious trouble with the bosses.
He's currently at home, waiting to hear his fate, and The Australian newspaper says Macquarie is trying to figure out who sent him the email with the offensive attachments.
Should he be punished? Our unscientific pollshows readers overwhelmingly think not, that what Kiely did was not that big a deal.
Now a Web site called Here Is The City has launched a global campaign to "Save Dave".
It lists four reasons why:
1. He seems like a nice bloke
2. The pics weren't hardcore
3. He has suffered enough
4. There's just too much political correctness in this world anyway
The site is asking people to email Macquarie management on Dave's behalf.
The campaign has been picked up by publications like Forbes, which writes, "Perhaps the most creative defense of Kiely: It's the bank's fault. As one commentator on the Save Dave campaign put it, Macquarie needs to step up its information technology department if it doesn't want shenanigans like this going on. "There is a responsibility chain here. The firm is to blame. This should not have been allowed to happen.'"
Well...that's a bit like saying, "I'm sorry, officer, but she told me she was 18."
Still, the campaign to Save Dave is gaining steam and inspiring so much passion.
Why?
"It's time for bashed bankers to unite in support of one of their own!" the site declares.
True, and it's a lot easier to rally 'round Dave than Lloyd Blankfein.
In case you missed it, here is the video - and unlike the folks who sent the email to Dave, we're issuing a warning this is "Not Safe For Work."
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