Chairman of Bermuda College Jan Spiering has refused to get drawn into an open debate about why the board made an out-of-court settlement of $100,000 following complaints over how an appointment was made.

He said the board made the decision to settle with Tara Soares, a faculty member at the college, after she alleged wrong-doing in the appointment of Michael Bradshaw to the position of associate dean to the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology about two years ago.

Mr. Spiering, who took over as chairman last January, said he would not discuss the issue through the media.

He spoke out after former vice-president Dr. Donald Peters was quoted in The Workers' Voice newsletter, published by the Bermuda Industrial Union, as saying that he stood by his decision to appoint Michael Bradshaw, and said "the public should be appalled at the college's use of the people's money to `donate' to Tara Soares".

He said he was surprised when the board agreed to settle with Mrs. Soares, who is a Canadian married to a Bermudian, when he and the human resources department at the college had assured the board there was no impropriety with regard to this issue.

And yesterday, Dr. Peters said to The Royal Gazette that he stood by his decision and his comments.

He said: "Michael Bradshaw had a lot of experience in higher education. I have had 15 years of hiring faculty and staff and I know what is required.

"Having a degree does not make you qualified for just any job. I needed somebody who appreciated problems with young black males in Bermuda. He had an awful lot more experience than Mrs. Soares."

But when asked to comment on the board's decision last night, Mr. Spiering said: "Obviously, the board and the administration make business decisions and we made a decision to settle and we settled.

"I will not go into any of the details. It was a business decision, and that is all I will say.

"The issue is there are people with opinions who have been with the organisation in the past and they are no longer with the organisation and are no longer spokespeople for the organisation.

"They are welcome to air their opinions, but they are only opinions."