BATH — An Augusta man who says he quit his job after being offered a shipyard apprentice position that was later withdrawn has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Bath Iron Works.

Robert Gayer’s suit seeks unspecified damages for lost wages and emotional distress. It also asks that up to 25 other people dismissed from BIW’s apprentice program be allowed to join in the suit, making it a class action.

Gayer’s attorney, Jed Davis, said he has been contacted by five or six other potential plaintiffs, including a man who sold his home in New Hampshire and moved to Maine to participate in the program.

A Kennebec County Superior Court judge has yet to rule on the class action request.

BIW spokesman Kevin Gildart said 24 prospective apprentices from outside the company were selected to participate in the program that was later scaled back because of an internal policy change that froze such hiring as a way to cut costs and improve efficiency.

“It’s an extremely unfortunate situation, and we feel terrible about it,” Gildart said. He said BIW got “further downstream than we should have” in hiring new apprentices before the discrepancy with the new policy was identified.

Gayer claims BIW offered him a place in the program on Oct. 21 and told him to notify his employer that he was leaving.

But BIW attorney Arlyn Weeks denied that the prospective apprentices were told to quit their jobs. She said the shipyard did not sign employment contracts and did not offer any guarantees against layoffs.

Neither side disputes that Gayer was told the program would last four years and that he would be awarded an associate degree from Maine Maritime Academy if he completed it successfully.

The apprentices were told to report for physicals and sign employment forms so that they could begin the program Nov. 7, Davis said. But the job offer was rescinded in early November.

Davis said his client refused to accept a company payment of $5,000 in compensation, an offer Gildart said was made in recognition that some people had been placed in a hardship situation.

“We provided them with compensation for the problem we created,” Gildart said. “Our position is that we adequately compensated them for the disruption we caused.”

Gayer, in his early 30s, quit his job as a truck driver in Augusta to be a part of the program and is now unemployed, Davis said. Gayer’s wife Karen, also named as a plaintif, is pregnant with the couple’s first child and plans to leave her job as a nurse.

“It appears likely that, just when their financial needs will be increasing, their income will be substantially reduced, if not eliminated,” Gayer’s complaint states.

The apprentice program has long been the backbone of BIW’s training efforts, Gildart said. Classes in general shipbuilding topics and in trades such as welding, machinery and electrical work are combined with on-the-job training.