Hospitals Board Chairman Raymonde Dill had a bust-up with his secretary just three weeks before quitting his job as a bank executive.

The Royal Gazette has learned that the woman even filed an internal complaint against him, prompting him to leave his post at the Bank of Bermuda.

It is understood Mr. Dill quit as the bank's Vice President and Head of Operations for North America when he became dissatisfied with the way the complaint was being handled.

The controversy began when he arranged to fire the secretary for sub-standard work.

But the woman, who is still believed to work at the bank, handed in a sick note and disappeared from the office.

Peter Smith, head of corporate communications at the Bank of Bermuda, would not give an official comment on Mr. Dill's sudden resignation last month.

But bank sources told The Gazette that Mr. Dill's secretary filed a complaint against him for harassment and assault.

Mr. Dill was alleged to have put his hands on the secretary, sworn at her and ordered her to answer the phones.

Three weeks later, his sudden resignation was announced in a short email after 5 p.m. on a Friday afternoon.

He did not re-appear for work on the Monday morning.

Mr. Dill, who started at the bank on January 1, 1997, is now in his hospital office full-time.

But he insisted this week that it was his decision to resign.

"My leadership and management style didn't seem to fit with that of the bank,'' he said.

"It's important in any organisation that the leadership work together with common goals and common methods of implementing those goals.

"Without this, an organisation cannot be successful.'' And Mr. Dill, touted by some as a possible replacement for Sheila Manderson when she retires as CEO of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, insisted he was not guilty of harassment or assault.

"I flatly deny that,'' he said, adding that there had been some "harsh words'' with his secretary.

"What I will say is that for a number of months, there have been performance issues with my then secretary,'' he added.

"Performance issues which we had been attempting to address by training and coaching and other management tools.

"And it's probably fair to say that in recent weeks, or say during the month of February, we had realised that some of these attempts to improve some of the performance issues were not being met.

"So it's a fact that she and I had reached the point where some sort of action needed to be taken regarding her continued employment with the bank.

"In an environment like that, there clearly were harsh words but there was no physical abuse.'' Mr. Dill confirmed he knew a complaint had been filed against him.

"There was a complaint against me,'' he said. "But it wasn't a complaint of assault. Even more to the point, the complaint was unsubstantiated.

"If there is a genuine complaint, then there is a legal recourse that should be followed.''