Fired Cook Charges Bias

A cook who worked in the Freshman Union dining hall said yesterday he was fired last week after years of complaining to management about workplace harassment and racial discrimination.

The cook, Darryl Hicks, who also serves as the labor union shop steward representing dining hall employees with grievances, filed complaints against Harvard in December with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The complaints say that Hicks, who is Black, was harassed on the job and denied promotions because of his race.

Hicks said he was fired in connection with a grievance he filed against another cook who works as his immediate supervisor.

"He's been harassing me for a long time. He's made it clear he doesn't like Blacks," Hicks said in an interview yesterday. Hicks said the other cook gave him an unfair share of the hardest work in the kitchen. Hicks complained, and was suspended for insubordination.

According to Hicks, the manager, assistant manager and three supervisors who run the College's dining hall are all white. Hicks said he and other minorities were discriminated against when it came to getting promoted to "second cook," a supervisory position that is below the rank of the white supervisors.

Hicks also said overtime hours were unfairly distributed to favor Portuguese and white employees over Black and Puerto Rican employees. According to dated records of cook's overtime, Hicks and other Black and Puerto Rican employees were allowed to work less than 40 hours of over- time, while white and Portuguese employees worked between 70 and 180 hours of overtime each in the 15 months from September 1991 and December 1992. The union's contract says that overtime hours must be distributed fairly between employees.

According to Hicks, the discrepancy in overtime hours worked during this period persisted after Hicks met with management officials to try to fix the earlier imbalances.

In interviews last month and yesterday, Hicks described a dining half staff divided sharply by race and treated harshly and unfairly by supervisors.

Of about 60 dining hall workers in the Union, he said, about 45 are Portuguese, he said. When the employees eat before meals, the Portuguese workers. Black workers and white workers all sit at separate tables, he said.

Hicks said employees in the Freshman Union work in "a hostile environment."

At times, that environment may endanger student's health. For instance, five dining hall workers interviewed by The Crimson last month, including Hicks, said they are intimidated when they try to take the sick time they are entitled to in their contract.

"If you're sick, you've got to come in," dining services worker Liz Braga said in an interview last month. Workers said they are threatened by their supervisors and pressured to come to work despite their illnesses.

"Would you prefer someone handling your food that's sneezing and coughing?" Hicks asked. Workers said such practices were against the policies they were taught in dining services training.

A former supervisor who Hicks said harassed him was demoted after serving underwarmed baked stuffed shells to students, according to a demotion report. "This represents totally irresponsible behavior as well as endangering the health of the students that were eating that meal," the letter said.

Five Freshman Union workers said they are forced to cut their breaks short in order to work more and they are often humiliated by supervisors who yell at them in front of students.

The five workers also said employees are often near tears as they try to serve hundreds of meals quickly, standing in the heat for hours at a time under pressure from their bosses.

Director of Dining Services Michael P. Berry said in his April 2 termination letter to Hicks that his dismissal was based on his "unacceptable performance and conduct as an employee." Berry, who has gained a reputation as the "mealtime messiah" for improving food quality for students, did not return a telephone call yesterday afternoon. Officials at the Freshman Union had referred all questions to Berry.

Many of the grievances brought by Hicks were rejected by dining services officials as unfounded, but Hicks won a lawsuit for back pay in an injury case.

Hicks said he is trying to get his job back through a union grievance procedure, and he said he has tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to be transferred to other dining halls.

Hicks, 32, had worked in the Freshman Union for more than five years, and as a union steward for three years. He earned $504 a week until he was fired.

He lives in Arlington and said he has two children and a wife to support. He said he has previous experience at Friendly and International House of Pancakes, as well as being assistant manager at a movie theater and a chief's helper at Mass General Hospital.

The Harvard Radcliffe Labor Alliance, a student groups, has been talking with dining hall workers and is planning to meet with Berry and to start a position campaign in Hick's behalf.

"We thought it was wrong and we thought it was indicative of a greater problem." Labor Alliance leader Joshua L. Oppenheimer to said of the way Hicks was treated.

"I think it's anti-worker. I think it's humiliating. I think it's degrading I think it's dehumanizing. I think it's disgusting. I think it's a real tragedy, Oppenheimer said.

As for Hicks, he still has his pride, if not his job. Last month, he said, "I was a man when I walked in the door and I'm going to be a man when I leave. I'm not going to let them treat me like garbage," he said.

And yesterday, dressed in street clothes instead of his chief's whites, he was similarly confident. "They had no fight to terminate me and all it is was harassment," he said. "The only thing I've done wrong is fight for the rights of the employees."PhotoEdward H. WuDARRYL HICKS

According to Hicks, the discrepancy in overtime hours worked during this period persisted after Hicks met with management officials to try to fix the earlier imbalances.

In interviews last month and yesterday, Hicks described a dining half staff divided sharply by race and treated harshly and unfairly by supervisors.

Of about 60 dining hall workers in the Union, he said, about 45 are Portuguese, he said. When the employees eat before meals, the Portuguese workers. Black workers and white workers all sit at separate tables, he said.

Hicks said employees in the Freshman Union work in "a hostile environment."

At times, that environment may endanger student's health. For instance, five dining hall workers interviewed by The Crimson last month, including Hicks, said they are intimidated when they try to take the sick time they are entitled to in their contract.

"If you're sick, you've got to come in," dining services worker Liz Braga said in an interview last month. Workers said they are threatened by their supervisors and pressured to come to work despite their illnesses.

"Would you prefer someone handling your food that's sneezing and coughing?" Hicks asked. Workers said such practices were against the policies they were taught in dining services training.

A former supervisor who Hicks said harassed him was demoted after serving underwarmed baked stuffed shells to students, according to a demotion report. "This represents totally irresponsible behavior as well as endangering the health of the students that were eating that meal," the letter said.

Five Freshman Union workers said they are forced to cut their breaks short in order to work more and they are often humiliated by supervisors who yell at them in front of students.

The five workers also said employees are often near tears as they try to serve hundreds of meals quickly, standing in the heat for hours at a time under pressure from their bosses.

Director of Dining Services Michael P. Berry said in his April 2 termination letter to Hicks that his dismissal was based on his "unacceptable performance and conduct as an employee." Berry, who has gained a reputation as the "mealtime messiah" for improving food quality for students, did not return a telephone call yesterday afternoon. Officials at the Freshman Union had referred all questions to Berry.

Many of the grievances brought by Hicks were rejected by dining services officials as unfounded, but Hicks won a lawsuit for back pay in an injury case.

Hicks said he is trying to get his job back through a union grievance procedure, and he said he has tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to be transferred to other dining halls.

Hicks, 32, had worked in the Freshman Union for more than five years, and as a union steward for three years. He earned $504 a week until he was fired.

He lives in Arlington and said he has two children and a wife to support. He said he has previous experience at Friendly and International House of Pancakes, as well as being assistant manager at a movie theater and a chief's helper at Mass General Hospital.

The Harvard Radcliffe Labor Alliance, a student groups, has been talking with dining hall workers and is planning to meet with Berry and to start a position campaign in Hick's behalf.

"We thought it was wrong and we thought it was indicative of a greater problem." Labor Alliance leader Joshua L. Oppenheimer to said of the way Hicks was treated.

"I think it's anti-worker. I think it's humiliating. I think it's degrading I think it's dehumanizing. I think it's disgusting. I think it's a real tragedy, Oppenheimer said.

As for Hicks, he still has his pride, if not his job. Last month, he said, "I was a man when I walked in the door and I'm going to be a man when I leave. I'm not going to let them treat me like garbage," he said.

And yesterday, dressed in street clothes instead of his chief's whites, he was similarly confident. "They had no fight to terminate me and all it is was harassment," he said. "The only thing I've done wrong is fight for the rights of the employees."PhotoEdward H. WuDARRYL HICKS