co-worker continued in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The 57-year-old Warwick man, a bar manager at a top Bermuda hotel, denied kissing and fondling the woman in his office.

He allegedly locked her in and assaulted her when she went to get some keys from him.

Defence lawyer, Mr. Mark Pettingill called two witnesses to the stand to testify to the defendant's character.

A senior Bermuda Industrial Union official told the court that he was a bartender at the hotel. The defendant was his direct boss and they had known each other for as long as he had worked there -- almost five years.

He said his boss was "a very affectionate person and a man of great compassion.'' "During my time at the hotel, there has never been anyone that has spoken and unkind word about him,'' the bartender added.

The man always greeted male employees with a handshake and female staff with a kiss on the cheek, said the witness.

Sgt. Peter Giles, prosecuting, alleged that the witness's opinion had been influenced by the things he heard and by the fact that the man was his immediate supervisor.

But the bartender denied this.

A second witness, the laundry manager at the hotel, said she had known the defendant for 24 years, since she began working there.

She testified that the man was kind, generous and respectful.

He would greet her by placing his hands on her shoulders and giving her a peck on the lips.

The woman told the court that she had never heard him curse, argue or complain and she never had any reason to be offended by the way he greeted her.

Magistrate, the Wor. John Judge adjourned the case to next Wednesday.