U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (FILE PHOTO: Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The campaigns of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Rush Holt have paid $39,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former election worker who was fired for hiring blacks to campaign in predominantly white neighborhoods.
Angela Genova, a lawyer for both campaigns, confirmed the settlement, which showed up in recently filed campaign finance documents for the New Jersey Democrats. The deal was first reported by The Star-Ledger of Newark.
Genova called the lawsuit “baseless” and “frivolous.”
In the suit, Christopher Natsuk said he was fired for hiring black canvassers to go door-to-door for the candidates during their 2008 re-election campaigns in parts of Holt’s 12th Congressional District in central New Jersey.
Natsuk says he was told the workers he hired were “demographically undesirable.”
What do you think of the settlement? Sound off in our comments section below…
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
