One of England's biggest hospital trusts has been accused of "institutionalised racism" after a senior manager it sacked won almost £1m in damages for racial discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Elliot Browne secured the compensation from Central Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust after an employment tribunal ruled he faced "persistent discrimination" and "an intimidating environment" before the trust suspended him when he complained and then ended his 34-year NHS career.

Browne's health was so badly affected by the ordeal that he considered committing suicide, the tribunal heard. Browne, who is 55, said: "It is scandalous that this kind of behaviour and culture should exist in an organisation whose prime purpose is to care for others."

Problems arose when the division managed by Browne, which included pathology, radiology and anaesthetics, went into deficit and he had to produce a plan to tackle the overspend. When he did so, Gill Heaton, the trust's chief nurse and deputy chief executive, began what he described as a campaign of bullying and harassment.

The trust was accused of using tactics with him which they did not apply to white colleagues who ran other departments which had financial problems, such as writing to him to tell him that his position at the trust was "no longer tenable".

Unite, the trade union which represented Browne, urged the trust to "tackle its culture of institutionalised racism" and criticised it for spending almost £1m of public funds "to defend the indefensible rather than deliver patient care".

Keith Hutson, a Unite regional officer, said the outcome "reflects the pain, suffering and grief he was put through by his employer. Hopefully, this will act as a catalyst for his former employer to face up to their obligations in tackling the culture of institutionalised racism that they seem happy to endorse and that is underpinned by a cavalier attitude in their management style.

"The systematic intimidation and bullying of a single individual, the like of which I have never seen in my career as a union regional officer, was breathtaking and callous."

The tribunal upheld Browne's claim under the Race Relations Act that he suffered persistent discrimination from February or March 2007 onwards, until he was finally dismissed in 2008. Heaton "created an intimidating environment for the claimant and paid little regard to the effect of her intimidatory comments upon the claimant who was clearly ill at the time and told her so".

When Browne lodged a grievance, the trust did not take them seriously or investigate them, the tribunal ruled.

Unite wants an independent inquiry into the trust's disciplinary policies after discovering that, although 2% of its workforce are black, they form 25% of those dismissed for wrongdoing.

After that, "the claimant was suspended, a very serious step to take particularly for a very senior manager, and disciplinary action commenced as reaction to the claimant's grievances. The witnesses closed ranks and disciplinary action was commenced to secure the claimant's removal from office", the tribunal's judgement said.

His treatment was so traumatic that he "cannot imagine being able to work in the NHS again" and it also badly affected his self-esteem, family life and personal life. The trust "did not take seriously" statistics Browne gathered showing that black employees were more likely to be dismissed than white ones.

The £933,115 damages is made up of sums to reflect injury to his feelings, aggravated damages, personal injury, compensation for future loss of earnings and also loss of pension rights.

The trust operates Manchester Royal Infirmary, Saint Mary's hospital, Manchester children's hospital, Manchester Royal eye hospital and University Dental Hospital of Manchester. It has never apologised to Browne and continues to dispute the tribunal's findings. A spokesperson said: "As an organisation we take issues of any discrimination seriously. We strongly believe that discrimination did not feature in this individual's case.

"We appealed the original decision, which has been heard and we are awaiting the outcome. As such we feel that it is inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage."

Unite's head of health Rachael Maskell claimed Browne's treatment was "not unique within the NHS. Discrimination and harassment in the health service is all too common and needs to be rooted out."