A housing association boss who claimed racial discrimination when he applied for a senior post with Angus Council has been awarded £26,054 after winning his claim.

Ahsan Khan, 45, who is of Bangladeshi origin, complained of direct and indirect racial discrimination when he applied for the post of head of housing with the council.

An Edinburgh employment tribunal heard Mr Khan was one of 15 applicants for the post but he was not interviewed, even though he met the required specification which included substantial senior management experience within housing.

However, when the council drew up its short leet for interview, it refined its requirement to recent experience of the Scottish local authority scene.

Mr Khan pointed out that, as there was no-one of black or ethnic minority working within the local authority at a sufficiently high level to be a candidate for the post, the criteria was indirectly discriminatory. He said there were some who worked in the housing association sector.

Angus Council denied discrimination on racial grounds, explaining the short leet was refined as they had received an unexpectedly high number of applications.

It was important to appoint someone who could "hit the ground running" as they were about to lose two of three senior members of housing department staff.

Mr Khan, who was, and still is, chief executive of Loreburn Housing Association, having been appointed in 1998, had previously worked with a number of local authorities in Scotland. Loreburn Housing Association, a charity, owns nearly 2000 properties in Dumfries and Galloway and has six main departments, overseen by Mr Khan.

Had local authority experience been indicated in the job advert, Mr Khan said he would have highlighted his experience in these areas.

The tribunal heard Ron Ashton, who would have been Mr Khan's line manager and knew he was a good public speaker with a strong personality, attended the meeting where the short leet was drawn up. Mr Ashton also knew the successful candidate, Alan McEwen, well and had a very high regard for him. Mr McEwen's previous post had been with Cosla, which has no housing function.

At the time of the application, Mr Khan earned £56,000 a year and Mr McEwen £45,000. The Angus post offered a salary of £74,000.

Mr Khan told the tribunal he felt the post perfectly met both his personal and professional ambitions.

The tribunal found in recommending Mr McEwen for short leeting, Mr Ashton ignored or played down features of his application which did not meet or significantly fell below the requirements of the person specification as he was keen to see Mr McEwen appointed. He recognised that, if Mr Khan was interviewed, there was a possibility he would be appointed.

"Either consciously or unconsciously Mr Ashton was influenced in that view by his knowledge of the claimant's black ethnic minority background," employment judge Susan Craig said.