Settlement Ends String Of Suits

A $50,000 settlement with a former legislative staffer has ended a string of lawsuits by former workers who claimed they were fired for refusing or resisting illegal campaign work as part of their jobs.

Francisco Chateaubriand, who was director of the Senate Democratic communications office when he was fired in 1992, settled on Tuesday.

His lawsuit was one of 10 wrongful firing cases that grew out of a 1992 state investigation that found a pattern of illegal campaigning by all four legislative caucuses - the House and Senate Republicans and House and Senate Democrats.

Eight of the former workers won settlements of as much as $400,000. One lost at trial and another had his case dismissed.

The public spent about $1.4 million in settlements and legal fees, the Olympian newspaper reported Wednesday.