Bosses of the troubled US firm, Texaco, successfully held clear-the-air talks with staff at a Bermuda subsidiary, according to its president.

Texaco has been embroiled in racial allegations since the release of a tape which recorded company bosses discussing destroying documents needed in a lawsuit against the firm.

The tapes also recorded some of the executives allegedly uttering racial slurs against Texaco employees.

Among the executives heard on the tape was David Keough, chief financial and administrative officer of Heddington Insurance -- based in Bermuda.

He moved to the Island after the tapes were made and was not heard saying any racial comments.

Last week three Texaco bosses came to the Island to talk to Heddington's 44 staff.

Jennifer Cartmell, Heddington's president and chief executive officer, said: "There were no shocks and no surprises.

"It was an opportunity for the employees to talk about how they felt about the revelations and for Texaco to talk about their plans.'' She added that Texaco sent six teams to its US offices, but Bermuda was the only overseas country which was visited by the executives.

There were two meetings with staff last week -- one with a small cross-section of the company and another with all the staff.

"There is a lot of pain going on at Heddington about this. People feel guilty by association, but people feel very comfortable in saying this is not what Heddington is about,'' added Miss Cartmell.

Mr. Keough was recently suspended by Texaco and Miss Cartmell said he still remained suspended.

Texaco has agreed to a $176.1 million legal settlement and will pay $115 million to about 1,400 current and former employees and also will give black employees 10 percent raises.

The company has also agreed to spend $35 million on a task force to recruit black workers, monitor discrimination and develop diversity and sensitivity training.

The agreement's $176.1 million price tag, makes it the largest settlement of a racial discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.