The security department hired Rakobane for ajob during the week of October 17.

In his new job, Rakobane alleged thatdepartment officials are trying to retaliateagainst him for pursuing his complaint againstMcCombe. He said that while he was never formallytrained in how to do his job, officials havesuggested he is not conducting the proper roundson his security patrols.

Rakobane also said Sgt. John Miller called him"out of the blue" yesterday morning to suggestthat he had made inappropriate long distance callsat Christmas time. Rakobane said he never made anysuch calls.

"I don't know what is happening right now,"Rakobane said yesterday. "I think what they aredoing to me now is retaliation and victimization."

Rakobane said in yesterday's interview that hehas an attorney, Geraldine Hines, to representhim. Asked whether he was considering legalaction, the student declined to comment.

Rakobane said he was not pressured into makinghis complaint against McCombe, but said departmentofficials seemed eager to press a charge againstthe guard.

"In talking with people in the department, Igot the sense they don't like him that much,"Rakobane said. "I wouldn't quote anyone's name onthis, but there was this sense that they wouldhave liked to get him."

Guards' Charges

Over the past three years, 11 former or currentHarvard security employees have charged theirdepartment's administration with discrimination.Some of the employees filed union grievances, and,in most cases, McCombe represented them.

"I believe this suspension is happening becauseI've worked to help minorities in the departmentin the past," McCombe said this week. He refusedto comment further.

Some security guards, including McCombe, alsoalleged that Police Chief Paul E. Johnson and VicePresident and General Counsel Margaret H. Marshallcondoned retaliation against guards who complainedabout working conditions.

In an interview two years ago this month,McCombe said police officials, in concert with thegeneral counsel's office, had engaged in a"pattern" of retaliation against securityemployees. He said officials routinely dealt withworkers who complained about favoritism byexaggerating disciplinary claims against them.

A report issued by the general counsel's officein July 1993 said that allegations by McCombe andother guards were baseless. While the report alsodetailed "management" problems in the securitydepartment, the report's authors charged thatMcCombe had exaggerated claims of discriminationout of personal animosity for then-Manager ofOperations for Security Robert J. Dowling. Dowlinghas since been forced to leave his job.

McCombe and other guards have challenged the1993 report, saying it is full of inaccuracies.

In an apparent attempt to head off charges thatthey were retaliating against McCombe, thedepartment put Dale in charge of an investigationthat Harvard officials maintained would beindependent. But lawyers from the Office of theGeneral Counsel, which oversees police andsecurity, participated as well, documents show.