INSTITUTE of Directors chair Barbara Judge has been suspended following allegations of bullying and racism.

Ms Judge was told of the decision “pending further investigation” yesterday evening after the institute’s council met to discuss a report from law firm Hill Dickinson which said that she had reduced her assistant to tears and suggested that black people “can get aggressive.”

The day before, she said that she had “voluntarily decided to step aside temporarily from my role as chair and contest these allegations and the flawed process conducted so far.”