A threatened strike at the Bermuda Archives has been averted, with archives director Karla Hayward being placed on administrative leave.Earlier this month, staff at the archives voted by secret ballot to strike unless Ms Hayward is removed from her post. While they were set to down tools on October 4, General Secretary of the Bermuda Public Services Union Edward Ball said yesterday that the strike was averted.The statement came shortly after sources yesterday informed The Royal Gazette that Ms Hayward had been placed on administrative leave. Ms Hayward’s tenure as archives director has proven controversial, with staff and researchers criticising her management of the archives. Complaints from archive users led to a 2008 investigation by Ombudsman Arlene Brock. According to the report, several archive users had claimed that Ms Hayward was arbitrarily withholding records, giving access only to those who she liked.Ms Hayward has strongly and absolutely denied all allegations of wrongdoing, and has rejected any claimed that she showed favouritism towards archive users. “I honestly do try to do my best,” she added. In 2010 Ms Hayward was assigned to help implement the Public Access to Information Act (PATI) 2010. However, she reportedly returned to work at the archives two months later.Efforts were made to contact Ms Hayward for comment regarding this story, but were unsuccessful as of press time.