Minn. congressional candidate sued by consultant

Published 6:36 am Sunday, September 9, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS — The Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 5th District was sued Friday by a fundraising consultant claiming he owes her money for work on his campaign.

In the lawsuit filed in Hennepin County District Court, attorneys for Erika Roland allege Chris Fields did not fulfill provisions of a contract he had with the professional fundraiser. Fields won the 5th District Republican primary last month and is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison in November in the Minneapolis area-district.

Roland’s lawsuit asks that Fields pay her a total of $23,800. It alleges she had a contract with the campaign to be paid $3,700 per month, with bonuses of $5,000 and $4,000 for meeting certain fundraising goals. Roland alleges the contract also required a 60-day notice of termination worth $7,400, and she also is seeking attorney fees.

Email newsletter signup

Roland alleges in the lawsuit that she and Fields met at the end of July, and that he sought to change provisions of the contract. When she demanded a $3,700 payment for July, she alleges he wrote her a check with different amounts on different parts of the check, leaving her unable to cash it. The lawsuit also alleges the campaign reached the agreed-upon fundraising benchmarks, but that she did not receive any bonuses.