London Company Pays Mixed-Race Worker Over £12K After Manager Says She Looks Like 'An Alien From Avatar'

A manager's racially insensitive comment about a consultant's hairstyle led to a successful discrimination claim. The tribunal awarded the consultant £12,000 in damages. (Credit: Facebook / Jasmine Fubara)

A London company was ordered to pay more than £12,000 in damages after a manager told an employee she looked like "an alien from the Avatar movie" because of the braids in her hair.

Jasmine Fubara, a mixed-race recruitment consultant, was stunned when a manager compared her appearance to a blue, CGI-generated "Avatar" character during an interview. Fubara, who also models, found the comment about her braids offensive but initially dismissed it as an unintentional slip-up.