A jury has awarded a 79-year-old Boulder man $36,000 In damages after it found that the Boulder Housing Authority violated three federal disability laws.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Denver decided Friday the housing authority discriminated against Leonard Roe because of his bi-polar - or manic-depressive - disorder.

The authority disregarded the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, said David Sanderson, Roe's attorney

The laws state federally funded housing providers must assist mentally disabled people.

"This case was a real wake-up call for BHA," Sanderson said. "My client has a right to live in federal housing even if he has a mental disability."

In May 1994, the authority tried to evict Roe from Northpoll Apartments, 1133 Portland Place in Boulder. Housing officials said Roe had an altercation with another resident and frequently was verbally abusive and noisy.

"Those are all symptoms of his manic-depressive disorder," Sanderson said. "BHA's focus is on accommodating people with physical disabilities by putting up things like wheelchair ramps. They didn't have much to handle people with mental problems."

But housing authority officials are concerned that mentally ill residents may disrupt the safe, secure environment of federal housing, said Kathy McCormick, executive director of the authority. It owns 19 properties and houses about 3,000 people. About 25 percent of them have disabilities.

"Our goal is to provide decent housing for people who are low income, including those with mental disabilities," she said. "But it concerns us when the residents with mental disabilities start to become a threat to the other residents. How far do we have to go to accommodate these types of residents?"

McCormick said the authority tried to accommodate Roe and plans to appeal the decision. "Some of the acts that apply to this situation are new and we're trying to understand how they apply," she said.

Meanwhile, Roe will continue to live at Northport Apartments. "He's been a good tenant for about the past two years," Sanderson said. "At least now he won't be homeless."