AUBURN – A former employee is suing RadioShack Corp., claiming he was harassed on the job because he has Asperger’s syndrome.

Joseph Ziehm of Lisbon worked at a RadioShack store in Machias for two months in 2005, then was transferred to a store at the Lewiston Mall.

There, he endured verbal harassment by store workers, including the store’s manager, Casey Moore, according to a lawsuit filed recently in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

Moore discriminated against Ziehm by reprimanding, demeaning and threatening him when he was scheduled to take days off, which was a condition or privilege of his employment, his attorneys, Stephen Beale and Adam Lee, wrote in a civil complaint.

Moore denied Ziehm compensation, advancement and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment by not providing sales commissions, travel compensation and reimbursements to which he was entitled, the suit said. Moore discriminated against Ziehm because of his disability by singling him out and targeting him.

Ziehm has a confirmed diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. Asperger’s is notable for the often great discrepancy between the intellectual and social abilities of those who have it, according to MedicineNet.Com., an online medical dictionary.

“At all material times, (Ziehm) was and has been qualified to work for (RadioShack) in the position for which he was employed and performed all of the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations,” the suit said. Moreover, he “performed his job duties well.”

One day in July 2007, a coworker at the Lewiston store sprayed Ziehm in the face with keyboard cleaner, a liquid that contains a hazardous substance, the suit said. Ziehm phoned Moore to tell him he was leaving the store to go to the emergency room for treatment. Moore told Ziehm that “if he left the floor he would be terminated and would have an adverse employment record,” the suit said.

Ziehm’s father took his son to the emergency room at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. Ziehm later asked for time off to recover from the spraying incident and the harassment, which had stressed Ziehm to an intolerable level. A regional manager objected to Ziehm’s request.

That manager told Ziehm he had to return to the store and refused to reassign him to other area stores or make other “reasonable accommodations,” the suit said.

About a year ago, Ziehm filed a discrimination charge against RadioShack at the Maine Human Rights Commission. About a month ago, the commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Ziehm a “right to sue letter,” the suit said.

A spokeswoman at Maine Human Rights Commission said it never voted on Ziehm’s complaint.

Ziehm alleged that RadioShack discharged him because of his disability and didn’t make reasonable accommodations for him, violations of the Maine Human Rights Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.

Ziehm is seeking to regain his job with RadioShack at a nearby location along with back pay and benefits, as well as damages and legal fees.

RadioShack declined to comment on the case.