5:57 PM PT -- Pattiz tells TMZ, “This guy must be crazy. I’ve never met alone with him. I didn't hire him or fire him. I barely know who he is. The fact that I'm a law enforcement reserve is well known as I have public service awards in my office.

He adds, "I didn't and would never act in the manner that's been described. We have received no lawsuit but I presume this is in response to our letting him know today that we are going to sue him. His allegations are absurd.”

An attorney for Podcast One tells us they're suing Hernandez for stealing intellectual property -- and they have no idea why he was canned from his most recent job.

Norm Pattiz, the entrepreneur behind PodcastOne and Westwood One, had a bad habit of whipping out a loaded gun and knife during meetings with a producer ... according to a lawsuit.

Raymond Hernandez says Pattiz brandished a handgun in their office on multiple occasions, and also bragged about his deep ties with law enforcement. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, he says the broadcasting mogul would sometimes place the gun on his desk with the barrel pointed at Hernandez.

According to the suit, the boss man flaunted the firepower in order to intimidate Hernandez -- who says he was told to juice the numbers on podcast downloads in order to boost advertising revenue. Hernandez says he let it be known around the office he wasn't comfortable fudging numbers, and was fired shortly thereafter.

Hernandez says the gun play was also motivated by revenge. Last year, comedian Heather McDonald aired a recording of Pattiz sexually harassing her while she was on the job -- he made a comment about supporting her breasts. In the docs, Hernandez says Pattiz thinks he leaked the audio to Heather, and eventually pressured Hernandez's new employer to 86 him.

Hernandez, with his attorney Rob Reichman, is suing Pattiz for assault, wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation.