A University employee who wrote F*** You in data instead of the correct material has been reinstated by the Employment Relations Authority.
The Authority accepted that his actions were wrong but found that they were not “of such a magnitude that a fair and reasonable employer would have regarded them as serious misconduct”.

In that case a warning would have been appropriate reserving dismissal for more serious or repeated behaviour.

However since this event the law has changed back to requiring only that a fair and reasonable employer could have regarded it as serious misconduct (could rather than would).  If the same situation arose today the outcome may be different.  However to be on the safe side it would be best to get advice before deciding to dismiss.