An epileptic man who was unfairly sacked after removing his trousers during fits at work has agreed a financial settlement with his former bosses.

Simon Sims, from Hove, won his case for unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of his disability at an employment tribunal in May.

The case was adjourned for the tribunal to decide on the amount of compensation his former employers, Cable and Wireless, should pay.

But yesterday, Mr Sims and the company agreed a confidential compensation payout.

At the previous hearing, the company denied treating the 36 year old unfairly. It had accused him of "exposure" and being a "troublemaker" when he was dismissed from his job as a customer services adviser at the firm's call centre in Portslade, in October last year.

Mr Sims, who is now receiving incapacity benefit and disability living allowance, successfully claimed the company failed to take into account his illness when it made the decision to sack him.

The tribunal heard how he was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy ten years ago as a result of a car accident when he was aged seven.

The condition can occur at times of stress, including when he was dealing with irate customers. The firm's shift patterns made the problem worse with Mr Sims suffering regular fits. During two incidents he removed items of clothing after complaining of feeling hot.

In its ruling, the tribunal said this type of behaviour was normal for someone with Mr Sims' condition and should have been taken into account.

It stated: "When having a fit he feels hot, or as he put it, he 'burns up', and gets relief from loosening his tie and taking his shirt, and sometimes his trousers, off.

"As this invariably happens during a fit it was imperative that proper steps should have been taken to find out how best how to deal with it."

The tribunal criticised Cable and Wireless for not taking positive steps to help Mr Sims find another suitable position within the company.