Karla Hayward is no longer the Archives director after more than a year on administrative leave at a salary, which is believed to be in the region of about $120,000 annually.Donald Scott, Cabinet secretary, responding to e-mailed questions about Ms Hayward’s employment status, responded: “As has been previously stated, Cabinet Office does not comment on internal administrative matters relating to personnel.“I can confirm, however, that the matter is closed and that the post is vacant.”Beverley Morfitt has been appointed acting director of the Archives and she will be in that position for three months. Bermuda National Library directory Joanne Brangman has also acted in the position.Ms Hayward’s management of the archives was the subject of an Ombudsman’s review in 2008 as the result of complaints by users that Ms Hayward had arbitrarily withheld records from them, and there were also accusations of favouritism. Ombudsman Arlene Brock did find evidence of maladministration and recommended that Ms Hayward be moved from her front line role. She recommended that Ms Hayward should be moved to work on Public Access of Information, training Government departments in the task of managing records for archiving, which she described as a “monumental task”, and away from her management role at the Archives. Ms Brock said in July this year: “Time has proven that had my recommendation ... been implemented, there would likely have been a more efficient, productive and dignified result,” she said.However, in the 2011 Ombudsman’s annual report, she said the Archives had taken ‘giant steps’ towards making its holdings more organised and accessible.Staff were also unhappy at the Archives, complaining of a “toxic” work environment and took their complaints to Donald Scott, and he was understood to be carrying out an inquiry into their complaints.In September 2011 a strike was narrowly averted when Ms Hayward was placed on administrative leave. With the backing of the Bermuda Public Services Union, the staff had voted to strike if she was not removed from her post.One former staff member who also uses the Archives was less critical.She said: “I’ve been lucky enough to have conducted research in Bermuda and abroad, and can say that the archives, the staff and the facilities really hold up to comparison. The staff help you as much as they can, and access to secondary sources and other publications, including their very good reference library, indexes and microfilm.“While access to all of the primary sources is more limited — understandingly — and where judgement calls are concerned, the staff has always been very understanding and reasonable, explaining their decisions and going through the processes with much care as they have to balance access and preservation.“I know that there has been some controversy over the years, and like anything there are problems, but to be completely honest I think that the true tragedy is that more Bermudians do not use this wonderful resource to explore their heritage and identity. Navigating the past, and especially the Bermudian past, can be difficult, but under the care of the professionals on this island, anyone can discover something valuable about their pasts and selves.”Attempts to reach Ms Hayward, who is understood to be out of the country, for her comments went unanswered last night.