Wilson J. Apostol also filed complaints of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of duty of loyalty, and punitive damages against Colin Thompson, Gil Birnbrich, and Thompson Law Office, LLC.
Birnbirch is now an assistant attorney general with the civil division of the Attorney General’s Office.
Apostol wants a jury trial.
He is being represented by attorneys Robert Myers Jr. and Ramon Quichocho.
“The allegations and claims in the complaint by Mr. Apostol are baseless and without merit. We will vigorously defend and respond to this matter in court,” said attorney Robert Torres, who is representing the defendants, in an e-mail to the Variety.
Apostol is asking the court for a judgment against Thompson, Birnbirch, and the Thompson Law Office, “jointly and severally, for actual, general, compensatory, and consequential damages in an amount to be proven at trial; for mental anguish, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, and other damages Apostol can show, and for such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper.”
Apostol complained that the defendants “completely abandoned” him in his labor case against his former employer, Golden Bird. Corp.
Apostol contracted the defendants’ legal services on Sept. 9, 2009.
When the law office took over and entered their appearance in the labor case, Apostol said he appeared with Birnbirch for mediation, which was unsuccessful.
At the time of his filing of complaint on Sept. 7, 2010, Thompson, Birnbirch, and the law office were still counsel of record for Apostol in the labor case, since the defendants never withdrew, the complaint said.
It added that the defendants failed to file a motion for reconsideration with the Department of Labor.
“As a result of the defendants’ failure to amend the labor complaint and failure to completely represent [Apostol] for the labor case, the hearing officer denied all of [Apostol’s] requested relief,” the complaint said.
“But, worse,” the complaint said, “as a result of defendants’ incompetence and legal malpractice, [Apostol’s] umbrella permit is subject to revocation,” the complaint added.
Apostol filed in federal court a complaint for violation of Fair Labor Standards Act against Golden Bird Corp. last year for failure to pay overtime and for breach of contract.
“Faced with such unfortunate and unethical abandonment by [Thompson] and the law office, Apostol was forced to compromise his case without a lawyer,” in connection with the motion for summary judgment filed by Golden Bird on Aug. 10, 2010, the complaint stated.
Apostol was hired by Golden Bird Corp. as a building maintenance repairer in Oct. 1999.
