Board for wrongful dismissal -- has also received an undisclosed sum for a libel action against a television and radio station.

The former director of facilities management for the health board has agreed to accept a settlement payment from Bermuda Broadcasting Company (ZBM).

The libel trial was due to start today.

Mr. Crane's lawyer, Juliana Jack, said her client had agreed that the amount of the settlement would remain confidential.

In June of last year, Mr. Crane was awarded $75,000 from the BHB after he was told to resign or face immediate dismissal.

He claimed the board had forced his resignation in October 1999 after claiming they were unhappy with his ability to manage projects and alleging they had come in over budget. However, the board claimed Mr. Crane had resigned voluntarily.

And ZBM reported the engineer had been fired for misconduct, which later led to a lengthy apology.

However, Mr. Crane pursued the libel action, and was this weekend pleased to finally have been awarded damages. Last night, he would only say that he was glad it was all finally over.

However, Mrs Jack said: "He is pleased with the amount of the settlement because it not only compensates Mr. Crane for the pain and distress which he has suffered as a result of the false and defamatory accusations which were made against him by ZBM, but also completely vindicates his personal and professional reputation in the Bermuda community and beyond. Mr. Crane would like to thank all those persons who gave him their unqualified support during the past difficult 15 months.

"He hopes that lessons will be learned as a result of his action against ZBM, in particular, that the impact of a false and libellous attack on someone's reputation can be devastating.

"And, accordingly, the media must ensure that a careful and balanced investigation is carried out before running such a potentially harmful story.'' ZBM news director Darlene Ming said the matter should not have dragged on for as long as it did.

She said: "The reporter who actually wrote that story is no longer with the company and that person has not been with the company since shortly after the story was broadcast. We at ZBM pride ourselves on fairness and accuracy, and we have an audience who depends on the principles of good journalism.''