We have an member of the IT team who read some emails that were not addressed to him via an administrators programme.
The emails had a read receipt attached so the sender was aware he had read them.
When he was challenged he denied any knowledge and sent what appeared to be a forged email with the orignal email attached and addressed to him.
We launched an investigation and again asked him if he knew what was happening.
This time he admitted that he had read the emails and had realised it was wrong and had tried to cover it up.
He has an exemplorary employment record and has been with us for almost 10 years.

The question is, is this gross misconduct and if so should we dismiss him or issue a warning.

Thanks in advance..

adam greenwood