Dirty pornographic emails and comments were too much for female computer consultant Tao Ball. So when she was sacked (resigned claims the object of her anger, boss Marc Garcia) she felt she had been poorly treated and went to an industrial tribunal.

Marc - who sports several chins - claims that by sending pornographic emails and quizzing female members of staff about their sex lives helped "bond people together". Also, "as far as" Marc knew "Tao was happy to be sent the pornographic material and it is true that I once discussed the possibility of her being a lesbian with colleagues."

Marc is clearly misunderstood. The fact that Tao's emails began almost as soon as she started work and that one picture, showing a clitoral piercing, came with the message "Tao's next piercing", is not to be misunderstood as harassment or intimidation. We understand that Marc was simply trying to pull Tao into the wonderfully creative corporate culture at Kelros.

The fact is we often feel sympathy for (invariably men) people caught up in the pc world of employee legislation. And we also think that people being fired for minor pornographic incidents on email is frequently over-the-top. And this is a tribunal, so we are completely wrong if we implied any guilt whatsoever against either Tao or Marc.

Sex - when mixed in the male and female environment of every office in the world - is a complicated situation. Fortunately, here at the Reg the women are just as sexist as the blokes, so we hit a fine balance. We're also quite open, so if an email offends, it is normally expressed through expletives. In many companies vocal abuse of other colleagues and bosses is not acceptable, however.

The interesting thing - if you've seen the story in the nationals today - is that both Tao and Marc look like people you don't want to mess with. That's because newspapers always chose the pictures that make people look how they want them to. That Tao looks just as dangerous as Marc means that there is more to come in this interesting porn email saga. ®