United Bermuda Party Senator Maxwell Burgess questioned the integrity of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) yesterday over its handling of the Hardell case.

Controversy has continued to grow over the case in which Hardell media company CEO Harold Darrell claimed that the Bank of Bermuda acted in a racist way toward his employee Corey Butterfield by disclosing business information.

Speaking during the motion to adjourn at yesterday's Senate meeting, Sen. Burgess said: "The average Joe Public must know that they can go to the Human Rights Commission and get a fair shake."

Sen. Burgess said the courts had ruled that the matter must go back to the Commission but said it was a crime that it had not yet done so.

Sen. Burgess said he was embarrassed to live in Bermuda where it appeared as if people could not be heard.

"What is fair and reasonable in any modern day society is the right to be heard," and he said that controversy such as the present Hardell case "tugs away at the very tenants of democracy".

Sen. Burgess compared the non-action over the matter to the Holocaust when people sat idly by and thought it did not affect them until it came knocking at their door.

Sen. Burgess again said he was embarrassed by the affair and said: "Unfairness in Mr. Darrell's case threatens unfairness in every case."

And he challenged his fellow Senators to register their complaints in the matter.

Progressive Labour Party (PLP) Senator Milton Scott said Sen. Burgess' comments were nothing more than an "unleashing of theatrics in an attempt to get another soundbite".

And he issued his own challenge to Sen. Burgess, saying: "Let the Commission deal with it. In time the truth will surface and if the decision is upheld, I hope the Senator will have the dignity and common sense to come back in this chamber and withdraw those comments and apologise."

The allegations that attempts were made to improperly influence the work of the HRC surfaced in March when a complaint against the Bank of Bermuda was dismissed by the Commission without a hearing, and according to Mr. Darrell, without good reason.

Unhappy with the HRC's decision, Mr. Darrell took legal action in the Supreme Court which resulted in a consent order being issued ordering the Commission to re-open and hear the complaint.

Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister has been accused by Mr. Darrell of victimising Mr. Butterfield, who was recently sacked as the PLP party spokesperson, and Sen.Scott said the position of the Minister would be vindicated.

PLP Party Chairman Neville Tyrell said Mr. Butterfield was sacked due to an ongoing internal matter and not because of the row with Government.

The former director of the HRC, Neville Darrell, recounted his version of the events in the Hardell racial discrimination complaint in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court last week

He claimed that Mr. Lister's improper interference in the case forced him to resign his position within the HRC.