McCombe said Figueroa's firing after four years on the job was not warranted because he had never so much as received a written warning before. McCombe said the department is obligated to practice a policy of progressive discipline.

"I believe Mr. Figueroa should have been suspended for his actions, but I don't believe he should have been fired," McCombe said.

Dowling refused to say anything about the Figueroa case, citing the former guard's decision to hire an attorney.

Steven Thompson

Thompson, who is Black, was suspended for sleeping on the job in 1991. He appealed that decision, alleging that a white guard with a history of disciplinary problems had received a lesser punishment for the same infraction--sleeping on duty.

Thompson's charge of discrimination in discipline led department officials to meet with Harvard labor relations official Young and then-University Attorney Diane B. Patrick, who now is director of human resources. Both launched investigations, but no guards were interviewed for either probe.

McCombe said department officials accounted for the discrepancy in discipline by saying Thompson had "intent" to sleep. But McCombe said it was the white guard who had turned off his radio, an indication that he meant to sleep.

McCombe said there was discrimination, but he said he did not know for sure if it was racially motivated, as Thompson charged.

"By looking at the facts, I see a Black person with a problem, and a white person with a more serious problem," said McCombe. "When one group is treated differently than others, that's the definition of discrimination."

Of the charges, Dowling would only say, "If you'll check the records, Mr. Thompson still works here and [the white guard] resigned a few days later."

Russian Guard

McCombe also represented a Russian citizen, who has requested anonymity for fear of jeopardizing his immigration status, in several different complaints the guard has filed against management.

In 1989, McCombe defended the guard after he was fired by management for allegedly sleeping on duty. The guard won his job back during the grievance.

McCombe said he found two unusual circumstances in that case. One day before the Russian citizen was fired, his name had already been removed from a department roster listing seniority. And McCombe said the guard was not allowed to face his accusers--a Graduate School of Design official who said they found him sleeping on the job.

In 1992, the guard was suspended one month after writing Johnson to complain about alleged on-the-job harassment by security supervisor Thomas F. Henaghan. Henaghan denied the guard's charge, and department officials said the suspension was handed down as discipline for a confrontation in the Science Center allegedly provoked by the guard.