The Royal Gazette has received reports that Bermuda's Supreme Court is not supporting Bermudianisation in the workplace.

According to an inside source, the permanent position of secretary to a Puisne Judge/senior clerk has been open since July 4 when Bermudian Linda Beek left the position.

On June 30, a Bermudian temp was hired to work alongside Ms Beek and to learn the particulars of the position.

But after working in the position for almost a month, the Bermudian temp was told that they wanted to "try out other temps'', and was dismissed from the position.

Our source further states that the new British temp was hired from SOS secretarial services -- and Bermuda Government Employment was bypassed altogether when searching for a new temp.

The permanent position, which is currently being advertised, calls for three years of post-qualification experience at the executive level, preferably with experience in a legal environment.

The source admitted the British temp had some experience in a law firm that the Bermudian temp did not have.

But she added that the Bermudian had hands-on experience, and was trained by the person who had actually held the position.

"There was really no logical reason to change the temp for that position since it's so specialised,'' she noted.

She said she suspected the situation would present difficulties since the new British temp had no one to train her for the position, and was working from notes alone.

"They were probably surprised when they got a black Bermudian from the agency, so they decided to try again,'' she said.

"Now they got what they were looking for -- a white foreigner,'' she added.

The source added that this was not the first time that Bermudians were overlooked in the court system.

She explained there was a vacancy for the position of administrative assistant to the Chief Justice last year.

Once again, a British worker -- Beryl Tunnicliffe -- was hired from SOS despite applications submitted by Bermudians.

The source claimed that one of the applicants was the spouse of a Bermudian who had better qualifications than the British worker.

She added that even the Bermudian secretary of Police Commissioner Colin Coxall had applied and had been turned down for the position.

And Ms Tunnicliffe had only been on the Island days before being hired for the position on a one-year contract.

The position calls for successful completion of the Bermuda Secondary School Certificate (BSSC) or equivalent together with a secretarial course.

The applicant is also required to have certified typing and shorthand speeds of 80 wpm and 120 wpm, respectively.

The post also calls for a minimum of two years' experience as an executive secretary, preferably within a legal environment.

Although the source claimed that the British worker had no legal experience, she said court officials recently wrote in to have the contract extended.

This particularly disturbed her, she added, because the Court claimed that the reason the foreign worker was hired in the first place was because they could not find any Bermudians with the proper qualifications.

"Once again, Bermudians are being told that they're not good enough,'' said the source.

"And in some cases, they're pushing work skills which they know Bermudians don't have.

"For example, shorthand skills are still a big thing in England. But even though Bermudians may have some background in shorthand, they might be out of practice.

"By law they have to advertise the position, but it's obvious they have no intentions of hiring anyone else (other than the foreign workers),'' she added.

A Government Information Services spokeswoman, speaking on behalf of the Public Service Commission, confirmed that Ms Tunnicliffe had been on a year's contract.

She said the British worker's new contract had not yet been renewed and that it was still being considered.

And she said she did not know if the Government Employment Office had been bypassed or not.

"I have no knowledge of why or if they bypassed Government Employment,'' she said. "But often Government Employment does not have people registered in that category.'' Court slammed over hiring practices "With jobs, it's not always a question of a person's academic ability,'' she added. "And the reasons why someone was hired or rejected from a position are sometimes matters about which director of Personnel cannot speak.'' And while Labour Minister Quinton Edness said he had no authority over civil service appointments, he stated: "The Public Service Commission and the Personnel Department has firmly upheld Bermudianisation -- perhaps more so than any other employer.

"Just look at the civil service, and you can see that all the top positions are held by Bermudians.

"I would be very, very surprised if they were not upholding Bermudianisation policies.''