A DOCTOR who claimed she was sacked because she accused her supervisor of racial discrimination has been awarded nearly #5000 compensation.

Dr Ghada Omar was dismissed from her #21,000-a-year research post at Edinburgh firm Quintiles Scotland Ltd, after she claimed in a letter she had been subjected to constant abuse about her ''accent, background, culture and religion''.

An industrial tribunal accepted her dismissal, following the accusation, was race discrimination. But it cleared her supervisor, Dr Alison Russell, of making racial remarks which amounted to breaches in the law.

Dr Omar, 38, a biomedical research scientist, joined Quintiles in 1996. She worked in a team of researchers, led by Dr Russell, on a six-month probationary period.

In the first two months Dr Omar, a British citizen with Palestinian origins, claimed she was given tasks which were well below her ability and subjected to comments about her cultural background by Dr Russell.

She claimed Dr Russell said she would not be able to integrate with fellow team members at the firm because of her different cultural background.

Dr Omar, who now lives in Stirling, also claimed her supervisor made offensive comments about her religion and her accent.

But she admitted to the tribunal she did not complain about these remarks until she faced a hearing with management to extend her probationary contract.

The tribunal heard Dr Omar was summoned to a meeting with Quintiles human resources manager near the end of her probation period.

She said Dr Russell had told her there were plans to extend her probation period. The next day Dr Omar presented the management with a letter in which she made the allegations of racial discrimination.

Dr Omar was summoned to a disciplinary meeting later that day where her allegations were discussed and she was told to consider resigning or face dismissal.

She was later dismissed on the grounds of ''poor integration with the team''.

During the tribunal, Dr Russell denied the claims she had racially discriminated against Dr Omar, although she admitted making some remarks which she said had been misinterpreted.

The tribunal found the instances described were ''fairly minor'' and did not amount to discrimination by Dr Russell.

But it accepted Dr Russell had an ''unfortunate and abrasive manner, not mincing her words and saying what she felt without couching it in better terms''.

The tribunal agreed Quintiles had discriminated against Dr Omar by sacking her in the light of her allegations, regardless of whether they were true.

Dr Omar was awarded #3918 for loss of earnings plus a further #1000 for injury to her feelings.