DETROIT, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A former Michigan assistant attorney general has filed a lawsuit in connection with his firing and is seeking $75,000 in damages.
Former assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell alleges Detroit attorney Deborah Gordon used information she collected in previous cases to defame him, leading to him losing his job, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.
"As my complaint makes clear, I have uncovered a significant amount of information during the past year that shows that Deborah Gordon has deliberately set out to destroy me by any means necessary," Shirvell said in a news release.
The suit comes after litigation between Shirvell and Chris Armstrong, the former University of Michigan student body president who filed for a protection order in November 2010, alleging Shirvell was harassing him and stalking him. Shirvell -- who was placed on paid sick leave during an investigation into his online campaign calling Armstrong a "radical homosexual activist"-- told CNN at the time he had shot video outside Armstrong's home and tracked his social networking activities, but maintained he did it on his own time and not in his capacity as a prosecutor.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said Shirvell was fired for actions he took on company time and for lying to investigators, not for exercising his First Amendment rights.
Armstrong and Gordon have asked the state bar to strip Shirvell's law license.
"Shirvell has a history of trying desperately to smear people, so this is no surprise," Gordon said. "His complaint is absurd and without any factual or legal basis."
