A Star Wars boss sacked from a Disney series after calling a colleague 'the white man' has won £235,000 in compensation.

Sadi Khan MBE was left furious when Jay Bond was brought in to replace her as head of health and safety on the show The Acolyte.

She said it was 'uncomfortable' she was being replaced by a 'white man' and that she had had 'a few battles with white guys before'. 

Ms Khan was fired for harassing the new Head of Department, who was considered more experienced than her and complained of her 'highly offensive racial language'.

An employment tribunal has now found that while the decision to hire Mr Bond was not racially motivated, the company was wrong to sack Ms Khan after she made a complaint. 

The health and safety official - who has not worked in the industry since her dismissal - has been awarded £234,112.66 for the claims. 

Ms Khan was awarded an MBE in 2018 for cultural and religious awareness and training and services to the vulnerable.

Her first role on The Acolyte involved a weekly rate of £1,875 - higher than even the top range of salaries the role would typically have.

Ms Khan's initial duties included 'collating paperwork, accident reporting, booking in and coordinating for training courses, as well as dealing with financial matters and tracking the Department's budget and spending'.

The employee was then swiftly promoted, becoming the first woman of colour employed as head of health and safety on a Disney Star Wars series but was considered an inexperienced pick in the leadership role on the major show.

Indeed, Ms Khan said: 'People work 10-15 years within the industry to get onto Star Wars, I had done it less than 6 months, without the completed qualifications.'

The promotion caused some confusion because Ms Khan did not have the qualifications of a health and safety advisor and so did not fully understand the role.

Complaints were made by some of the staff while she was in the role, saying her communication was too harsh and one even called it 'bullying'.

The health and safety department was considered to be underperforming from July 2022 up until inspection in October, which the tribunal noted was the 'catalyst for change' by bosses.

A meeting was held on October 1 which determined the 'structure' of the department was 'wrong' and needed to be altered.

In an effort to remedy the 'dysfunctional' department, The Acolyte's producers hired Mr Bond who had 'many years of experience and was much respected as a Health and Safety Advisor within the film and television industry'.

They had intended to recruit him earlier to bring the department closer to industry standard but he had not been available.

Ms Khan was unhappy because she felt she was being demoted without having done anything wrong.

She said: 'I told Mr Bond that I found this unfair and that he had to appreciate that as a woman of colour I felt discriminated against.'

There was a production meeting on October 12 where there were 'raised voices' as Ms Khan defended herself 'forcefully' believing her position to be at risk.

She later went to the team's medic 'in tears' and complained 'the white man' was being brought in above her.

This led Mr Bond to make a complaint against Ms Khan, saying: 'I am concerned that I am working alongside someone using highly offensive racial language and that my name is being brought up in racially abusive conversations with my colleagues and who knows how many other people.'

Ms Khan told the investigating boss that 'it was racist to bring Jay in' and when she was challenged on this, she said: 'I'm an Asian female and they are pushing me out with a white male.

'If I were to take this further they wouldn't have a leg to stand on'.

During the 'venting session' she also complained Mr Bond was being paid more than her, described white people as 'you f*ing lot' and said she has 'had a few battles with white guys before'.

A disciplinary meeting was held at the start of November where Ms Khan aired that she felt cheated and 'uncomfortable' that an 'English man' had been brought in above her.

On November 24 Ms Khan was found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed. She appealed but the decision was upheld.

Her dismissal letter said: 'During the disciplinary meeting, you confirmed that you had referred to the Head of Department (HOD) Jay Bond, as "the white man" brought in above you, which made you feel uncomfortable.

'You stated you felt discriminated against due to your race and gender... as they "bring in a white guy above me, I haven't done anything f***ing wrong".'

She took her case to an employment tribunal in Reading which found Ms Khan 'completely failed to set out the facts' that there had been a bias in the workplace against her.

Therefore her claims of discrimination, harassment, detriment and unequal pay were dismissed.

But Employment Judge Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto did conclude that dismissing Ms Khan after she had made an allegation was the wrong thing to do.

He said: 'The reason why [Ms Khan] was dismissed is because she made the complaint about the appointment of Jay Bond as Head of Department above her and that she expressed this as discriminatory on the grounds of her sex and race, by referring to him as a white man brought in above her.

'We reject the contention that it was in any respect related to the manner in which she made the complaints or that there was a subjective reason [and] not because [Ms Khan] had made a protected act.

'In our view, [Ms Khan's] admitted comments did not amount to her carrying out harassment of Mr Bond within [Disney's] Policy.

'[Ms Khan] was complaining about being replaced by a white man, or as on another occasion she said 'an Englishman' and that person happened to be Mr Bond. This is not harassment of Mr Bond in all the circumstances.'

The Tribunal ruled in favour of Ms Khan's claims of unfair dismissal and victimisation as it related to dismissal.