Sadi Khan, the first woman of color to be the head of health and safety on a Walt Disney series, has filed a lawsuit against the company for unfair dismissal, sex and race discrimination, harassment, and victimization after she was fired from her position on The Acolyte after she allegedly referred to one of her co-workers as a “white man.”
She is suing Blue Stockings, a subsidiary of LucasFilm, which is owned by Disney, claiming that she was fired after she raised concerns about safety issues on the set of the Star Wars series. Khan had previously worked on the live-action Snow White for Disney.
The lawsuit and Khan’s firing occurred in the United Kingdom, where The Acolyte and Snow White were filmed. The British government gives Disney massive tax incentives to film in the country. Disney also filmed Deadpool & Wolverine and the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
During her testimony, Khan said she told executives that there were “unsafe” conditions on the set and there were “dangerous working at height activities” that “could have resulted in a fatality.” Khan said that after she raised her concerns, safety meetings with higher-ups became “hostile” and “intimidating.”
After she raised her concerns, Blue Stockings hired a “white man” as her supervisor. She believes she was passed over for a promotion because she raised the issues with management.
Khan told co-workers that she was being discriminated against, and when she told them it was because Blue Stockings hired a “white man” over her, she was fired.
She testified:
My first response was that they’ve brought in an Englishman. They’ve bought a white man in above me when I haven’t done anything wrong … It wasn’t said in a derogative way — it was taken out of context.
I was saying that the optics didn’t look right — he was an Englishman, I was the only woman of colour — he’d been brought in above me when I hadn’t done anything wrong and he was coming in to take over my position.
Adam Teeuw, Lucasfilm’s vice president of physical production, denied that anyone on the production minimized Khan’s concerns and that no one “commented about her race or sex.”
Khan said working for LucasFilm was the “job of a lifetime,” and removing her from the show’s credits cost her “her career.” Blue Stockings has denied any wrongdoing.
The case continues in the British court.
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