The labor union representing Harvard's dining hall workers will not pursue the grievance of a former cook in the Harvard Union who was fired after complaining of racial harassment and on the job discrimination.

Domenic N. Bozzotto, president of Local 26 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, decided last week not to seek independent arbitration in the case of the former cook, Darryl Hicks, who also served as a shop steward for the union.

In response, Hicks said he would initiate proceedings against the union for failing to represent him properly, and may hire an attorney to pursue his case against the University.

Bozzotto did not return a message left at his office and his home phone was out of order, and Union Attorney George E. O'Brien would not comment on the case.

Local 26 Business Agent John L. Rodrigues said he did not know why Bozzotto had decided not to pursue the grievance.

Hicks was fired by Harvard Dining Services Director Michael P. Berry on April 2.

Three months earlier, Hicks filed a set of state and federal complaints alleging that he was harassed and discriminated against at Harvard because he is Black. Hicks has also charged Berry with terminating him because of his outspoken union activity.

Berry has repeatedly and forcefully denied Hicks' charges, saying the worker was fired because he was an unsatisfactory employee with a lengthy disciplinary history and a poor attendance record.

Berry's decision to fire Hicks was upheld on a third'-step grievance by Carolyn R. Young '76, associate director for labor relations in Harvard's Office of Human Resources. The standard next step in appealing the termination would have been for the labor union to take the case to an independent arbitrator.

Students and co-workers have rallied to Hicks' side over the past several weeks. More than 500 students signed a petition urging Berry to reinstate the fired cook, and several of Hicks' fellow shop stewards--who are circulating a similar petition--have spoken out on his behalf.

Rodrigues said Bozzotto was aware of the shop stewards' petition when he made his decision.

"Mr. Bozzotto is well aware of that petition and he made that decision based on the legal advice he got from Mr. O'Brien," Rodrigues said.

Hicks said Rodrigues informed him last week of the union's decision but did not provide him with a reason for it. He said he had left three telephone messages for Bozzotto that were not returned.

The fired cook said he would file a complaint against the union with the National Labor Relations Board today. He charged the union leaders with repeatedly refusing to pursue grievances of his disciplinary record, saying the leaders had called the incidents "minor issues [that were] too petty to go to arbitration."

"I never really trusted them backing me up because they were letting things go by," Hicks said. "I'm not going to let the union get away with it either, because I am totally innocent of all charges that Harvard has ever made on me."

Hicks speculated that Bozzotto's decision could have been prompted by the expense of arbitration proceedings or Bozzotto's own alleged troubles leading the union.