Queens DA Candidate Sued By Former Campaign Petitioner: Report

QUEENS, NY — Queens district attorney candidate Betty Lugo is being sued for breach of contract by her former lead campaign petitioner, according to a news report.

Longtime political campaigner Robert Hunter has sued Lugo in small claims court for failing to pay him and three other petitioners nearly $3,200 for their work, Queens County Politics reported on Monday.

Lugo did not respond to the news outlet's request for comment.

Hunter received a $1,500 retainer for helping Lugo develop petitioning strategy and had a $2,000 contract for on-the-ground work gathering signatures and managing roughly a dozen petitioners, according to Queens County Politics.

The petitioners got $20 per hour and worked an average of four hours a day, six days a week, Queens County Politics reported.

District attorney candidates had to collect 4,000 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

Hunter told Queens County Politics that Lugo didn't offer a settlement, as he had hoped she would, so he will take his claim to court. He filed the lawsuit in April, but it hasn't been reported until this month.

"You’re talking about wanting to be the district attorney and you can’t pay people who worked for you in five-degree weather," Hunter told the news outlet.

Read the full story in Queens County Politics.