Firefighter Robert Keiley Says He 'Wasn't There,' Plans Suit Over 9/11 Ad

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Brooklyn firefighter Robert Keiley, who is depicted in an advertisement holding an image of the destroyed World Trade Center towers under the headline "I was there," said the ad is an insult to families of 9/11 victims.

There's one problem with the ad: Keiley said he wasn't there.

The firefighter joined the department in 2004 and said he posed for the photograph thinking it was for a fire-prevention ad. He also said the picture was Photoshopped.

The ad agency, Barker/DZP, says it is within its rights to use the image because Keiley signed a release.

"In New York State, even though you sign a release when your photograph or image is taken, you're not signing a release for that image to be doctored, changed or altered," Keiley's attorney, Keith Sullivan, told 1010 WINS. "If you're going to Photoshop an image to this extent that it changes tone and content of the picture then you have to get another release. That never happened here."

Sullivan said they will file a lawsuit -- not for monetary damages -- seeking that the company cease and desist from using the ad campaign in the future.

"We're not looking for money, although the law entitles us to punitive damages, we're not seeking that, we're seeking that the ad campaign be pulled that's using his image, that's all," Sullivan said.

A disclaimer on the ad, which appeared on a flier at a World Police Fire Games fundraiser made for a law firm specializing in 9/11 lawsuits, says the pictured firefighter is an actor.

The law firm, Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, was condemned by a judge last year for seeking a third of Ground Zero workers' lawsuit settlements.