The Bank of Bermuda has been accused in a lawsuit of disclosing confidential information about one of its customers which damaged the man's business.

Harold J. Darrell and Hardell Entertainment Ltd filed a writ against the bank in June 2000 in the Supreme Court.

In a written judgment, Chief Justice Austin Ward revealed details of the case in a preliminary ruling on a summons. Mr. Justice Ward states that Mr. Darrell and Hardell Entertainment Ltd "complained that Sharon Kirby, a servant or agent of the defendant (the bank) revealed confidential information about the plaintiffs (Mr. Darrell and Hardell) who were clients of the defendant (the bank) to persons who were not entitled to such information and by reason of such unauthorised disclosure the plaintiffs' business dealings have been jeopardised.'' Mr. Darrell and Hardell wrote to directors and senior executive officers of the bank to complain about the conduct of the bank, according to Mr. Justice Ward's ruling.

In the same judgment Mr. Justice Ward states that Mr. Darrell was reportedly considering asking for the help of Ministry of Development and Opportunity.

He said: "On 28th of September 2000 the plaintiffs sent details of their dispute with the defendant to the Director of Human Affairs and sought his intervention as the plaintiffs perceived they were being discriminated against for race and/or prejudice in the corporate business community.

"The plaintiffs also complained to the Minister of Finance (Eugene Cox) asking that he bear in mind the complaint against the defendants when called upon to make a decision about the Bank of Bermuda in relation to another matter.'' Mr. Darrell is a Bermuda businessman known as the chief executive of Hardell Cable Television, granted a licence to run a cable television company in 1996.

Bank hit with suit In a report in The Royal Gazette in 1997, it states the company did not deliver the 22 new TV channels it had promised. The story said Mr. Darrell claimed his system would allow viewers to rent movies and access pay-per-view programmes through their television sets.

He also filed to incorporate Hardell Multimedia in March 2000 and Sun Control Ltd in 1997 along with three others. In October 1997 he is named as a defendant in a legal action as trading as United Video Centre.

Hardell Entertainment is believed to be a company run by Mr. Darrell which in 1996 distributed pay-for-view movies to hotels.

Mr. Justice Ward states that in June 2000 Darrell & Hardell issued a writ and chose the Supreme Court to settle the dispute.

The question was now to what extent if any they can seek the assistance of parties not involved in the dispute to pressurise the bank to settle the action.

"Counsel for the plaintiffs argued that the plaintiffs should not be inhibited in their freedom of expression and that they should be free to use any means at their disposal to hasten a resolution of the problem,'' writes Mr. Justice Ward.

"Moreover, it has been argued that the defendant is a big and powerful corporation in Bermuda which cannot be intimidated by the plaintiffs who lack financial muscle.

"On the other hand counsel for the defendant has submitted that the transmission of information to the directors and executive officers of the defendant (the bank) is likely to cause serious prejudice to the fairness of the trial seeing that the tenor of the correspondence is calculated to force the defendant to settle the action whether it wants to do so or not.

"It is also calculated to prejudice third parties against the defendant (the bank) and to put pressure on potential witnesses.'' Summing up he ruled: "I am not satisfied that the communications of the plaintiffs with the directors and senior executive officers of the defendant create a serious risk that the course of justice might be interfered with. I do not think that they are likely to be persuaded to settle the claim merely because of what the plaintiffs wrote to them. The appeal to the Minister of Finance falls into a different category and is an invitation to him to take into account irrelevant matter in arriving at a particular decision concerning the defendant so as to force the defendant to be more responsive to the plaintiffs' claims.

"I therefore direct the plaintiffs to desist forthwith from communicating with potential witnesses who are not parties to the action with the intention of persuading such persons to bring pressure to bear on the defendants to settle the plaintiffs' claim. The plaintiffs having chosen to place the dispute before the courts must allow the judicial process to work.'' A spokesperson for the Bank of Bermuda said last night: "It is Bank of Bermuda policy not to comment publicly on matters relating to its accounts or customers and as this matter is pending litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further.'' COURTS CTS