Wadham barman Kevin Harris was fired from the college at the end of last term, prompting concerns about unfair dismissal from the college.
Harris, once involved in the porn industry, is also known as Dutch, claims he was “harassed” by the Wadham steward and forced to leave the job after just one term.
After receiving the message about being sacked he posted on his Facebook page, “To all my Kids at Wadham…I am no longer your Barman…you know who fired me today.”
He later told Cherwell, “The Steward was very anti-student, anti-drinking. We didn’t see eye-to-eye, especially as I became very popular with students very quickly.”
The Steward was contacted by Cherwell but refused to comment on the issue.
A senior member of college staff said that Harris “did not fulfil his probationary period” and that “he just wasn’t right for the job”. They declined to comment further on the issue, describing it only as a confidential matter.
Dutch admits that there was “a list of things that I was fired for” by the college. These include lack of communication, failure to wear the correct uniform, and sleeping on the premises.
However, he denies these allegations and argues that he was unfairly dismissed by college management.
“I was told that I wouldn’t work until 6pm, and not to come a minute before, because I wouldn’t be paid before then,” the barman said. “Then he [the Steward] would call me at 9.30, 10.30 in the morning. I had eight calls in one day, one time to actually ask where his pen was.” This was cited as a lack of communication, according to Harris.
“I was also told I had to wear a uniform – a shirt and a tie – but there’s no heating in the bar, so I had to wear a jumper. That was given as another reason, a failure to wear correct uniform.”
The barman also says he was accused of having alcohol on his breath, a charge he denies despite “a couple of shots with students in the first week”.
Harris admits to sleeping on college premises one night at the back of the bar, but claims that he was moving between homes at the time, and needed to stay over. He later booked into a college guest room, but claims the Steward still defined this as “sleeping on the premises”.
He alleges that we was not given proper training to perform the job.
A Facebook group named ‘Save Dutch’ was formed in protest against the decision to sack the popular barman, a move Harris described as “wonderful…they’re a great bunch of kids.”
Dutch previously worked in the LA adult entertainment industry, but came back to jobs in bars and breweries in England in the late 90s. Working on such films as ‘Bob’s Big Butts Extravaganza’, he said he preferred his time as an Oxford barman to his experiences in LA.
“I got more of a kick out of working in Wadham bar than I did in porn,” he said.
