Tyra's Assistant: You Owe Me Bank

Update: A rep for Tyra says Richard Thomas was never employed by Bankable, its respective entities, or by Tyra's talk show, or 'Top Model'.

Tyra Banks' former assistant wants a small piece of her fortune -- actually, he wants a small claims court piece.

TMZ picked up a small claims lawsuit filed in L.A County by Richard Thomas, who claims Miss Banks owes him $5,820.

Thomas is suing for back wages plus a little extra. The complaint says Thomas wants the money for "services rendered as assistant and advisor."

We're not sure how much he wants as an advisor.

And this is funny... the legal documents require Thomas to ask Tyra for the money prior to filing suit.

His response to that: "I have not been able to catch [Tyra] while she is in."

Doesn't sound like a great assistant to us.