N.J. lawmakers settle charges they fired campaign worker who hired minorities

    The campaigns of two New Jersey legislators have paid to settle a suit filed last year by a former worker who says he was fired for hiring minorities.

    Christopher Nastuk claimed U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Rush Holt removed him as a canvassing director after he hired black workers to canvass white parts of Holt’s 12th Congressional District.

    The Star-Ledger reports each campaign settled for $19,500, but both say the payment is a way to avoid litigation costs, not an admission of guilt.

    Nastuk says he was hired by the Lautenberg campaign to find canvassers for both men’s platforms and that he and the black canvassers he hired were all let go.

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