Council man seeks £350,000 for stress after mental breakdown

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Landscape architect Stephen Whiteside was subjected to years of harassment because of a "catalogue of breaches" by Croydon council's planning department, a court heard.

The 56-year-old had two breakdowns despite his repeated warnings to bosses that he was suffering from stress and his workload was unmanageable. In fact all three senior managers in the urban design department had stress-related breakdowns or illness because the planning department was so badly mismanaged, the High Court was told.

Mr Whiteside, who won his case against Croydon council, now faces a second hearing to establish how much damages he is to receive. He is seeking £364,955 for loss of earnings.

A spokesman for Croydon council said: "The matters took place a number of years ago under the previous administration, in an organisation that is unrecognisable from the council of today. The council is disappointed with the outcome of this case but will look at the judgment closely to see if there are any lessons that are still applicable in 2010."