A former Pinsent Masons employee who was sacked for sending ‘offensive’ messages to a colleague has been banned from working in the legal industry.

Mansoor Hussain was an IT service desk analyst for the international firm from November 2019 until June 2020, when he was dismissed for gross misconduct.

In May 2020, he sent ‘a number of messages via the firm’s internal communication channels to another member of staff, which contained offensive language directed towards the recipient’, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said in a decision published yesterday. ‘These messages continued after the recipient had asked Mr Hussain to stop contacting her.’

He has now been banned from the industry on the grounds that it is ‘undesirable for him to be involved in a legal practice’. No solicitor, employee of a solicitor or recognised body can ‘employ or remunerate’ Hussain in connection with their law firm without the regulator’s permission, the SRA said.

Hussain, of Keighley, West Yorkshire, has also been banned from being a manager of a recognised body or having an interest in a recognised body, was ordered to pay the SRA’s costs in the sum of £600 and given a written rebuke.