It started with a set of formal complaints filed in December with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Darryl Hicks, then a cook and labor union shop steward at the Harvard Union dining hall, said he had been harassed on the job and discriminated against because he is Black.

Three months later, Hicks was fired by Harvard Dining Services (HDS) Director Michael P. Berry. Berry said Hicks was an unsatisfactory employee with a lengthy disciplinary history and a poor attendance record. Hicks fought back, accusing Berry of firing him because he was too outspoken.

The charges between the two men escalated, with a Berry associate at one point saying that Hicks was "grabbing at straws and the only one he's got is his color."

Meanwhile, students and co-workers rallied to support the fired cook. Members of the Black Students Association and the Harvard-Radcliffe Labor Alliance organized a petition drive that in one night garnered 500 student signatures on Hicks behalf. Another petition circulated among the dining services' shop stewards.

Berry was unmoved, rejecting Hicks' first and second grievance of his termination and winning a third-step grievance filed with Harvard's Office of Human Resources.

But soon more problems began cropping up for the HDS director and his department. Among them:

* Another Black employee at the Union seconded Hicks' allegations of discrimination against Blacks.

* Dozens of workers at the Union and other dining halls said they were often pressured not to call in sick.

* A female shop steward said several women in the dining halls had been "grabbed" and "pinched" by fellow employees.

* The manager of the central College kitchen prompted complaints from his employees when he hired only men to clean the kitchen over Spring Break. Berry reversed the decision and reprimanded the manager, who said he was trying protect his female employees from the "noxious fumes" of cleaning chemicals.

* A worker at the Union alleged that Berry who says he prides himself on his accessibility, is not accessible at all. In one documented instance, Berry reprimanded the employee in writing for meeting with him too frequently. Berry says the case was an isolated instance.

The HDS director and his managers have also flatly denied the charges of harassment and discrimination. Still, Berry says he plans to institute sensitivity training for his employees.

Meanwhile, Hicks' labor union decided last week not to pursue his grievance although the state and federal investigations are ongoing. Hicks, however, says he plans to keep fighting for his job.

The dismissal of Hicks has turned into a far messier situation than the HDS director could have ever anticipated. Even with Berry's apparent victory, the flurry of allegations by workers across the College will have been costly for him.

And his reputation among students as the "mealtime messiah" may be tarnished for some time to come.