A NORTH-EAST council is facing a compensation bill after a judge said it had “directly discriminated” against a worker with bi-polar disorder.

Russell Aylott, of Yarm, near Stockton, was sacked by Stockton Borough Council in November 2006 on the grounds that his ill health made it impossible for him to continue.

However, the father-ofthree, who spent long periods off sick and in hospital due to his condition, has fought a legal campaign to prove he was unfairly dismissed and was a victim of disability discrimination.

Three judges at the Civil Appeal Court, in London, yesterday agreed an award of more than £30,000 in compensation.

Lord Justice Mummery said that, after starting work in a non-managerial role in June 2003, Mr Aylott, 61, was promoted to business support manager before “problems in the workplace began to emerge”.

In January 2005, he submitted a list of 17 complaints or grievances against colleagues, alleging assault, harassment, bullying and “failure to have regard to his state of health”.

Until then his bosses had been unaware of his bipolar disorder and, after he went on leave in February 2005, Mr Aylott asked that “reasonable adjustments”

be made to his role. In February 2006, he noted there had been “a total change” in working relationships, said Lord Justice Mummery.

He said: “Strict deadlines were set, there was reference to delay in meeting them, and his performance was closely monitored. On February 22, he went off sick with stress-induced chest pains.”

He added that when Mr Aylott came back in April, one of his bosses claimed he was “not well enough to return to work”.

He worked his last shift on April 13 and while he was in hospital, he was dismissed.

The judge said that Mr Aylott had 147 days off sick from April 18 to November 8, 2006, along with 115 days of paid leave of absence during an investigation in 2005.

The judge said 2005 and 2006 was difficult for Mr Aylott and the council, but that he agreed with an employment tribunal that ruled his dismissal had been unfair. Stockton council had appealed against the tribunal’s ruling.

A spokesman for the council said: “We have always believed we acted fairly to Mr Aylott and did endeavour to accommodate his range of health complaints and disability.

We do pride ourselves as being a good employer and the welfare of our staff is a very high priority for us.”