A Municipal Court judge last week sided with former City Council candidate Judy Moore in a breach-of-contract dispute with her former consultant and acting campaign manager.
However, Dan Kalai will file a new lawsuit that he believes will be successful.
Kalai worked for Moore, the Democratic candidate in the 10th Councilmanic District. She lost to Republican Councilman Brian O’Neill, taking about 45 percent of the vote.
Kalai was paid $10,000 for his work in the first five months of the year, when she was unopposed in the primary, and sued Moore for what he says is another $9,000 that he is owed.
The consultant and candidate had their first court appearance in October, but Municipal Court Judge Marissa Brumbach explained that, by court rules, city political disputes such as this one have to be heard by an out-of-county judge.
So, the hearing was moved to Nov. 21. Without explanation, the out-of-county rule was ignored, as Municipal Court Judge Brad Moss heard the case.
At the October appearance, Kalai rejected a $3,000 settlement. He rejected a $2,000 offer last week.
At last week’s hearing, Moss determined that there was no signed written contract between Kalai and Moore. Instead, there were monthly oral agreements. Moore used a different political team during the general election.
Lorena Ahumada, the lawyer for Moore, told Moss there was a “compromise settlement” of $2,000 in July that the candidate paid to Kalai to make the dispute go away.
Moore told Moss she did not owe Kalai any money, and the judge agreed.
Kalai, though, believes his suit was unsuccessful because he sued Moore personally. He sensed that Moss would have awarded him $3,000 if he had sued the Committee to Elect Judy Moore.
Vlad Tinovsky, the lawyer for Kalai, is expected to file a new lawsuit identifying the committee as the defendant. ••
