Lawsuit claims Michelle Hung used commissioner post to harass ex-husband's new wife

Rebecca Campbell, who is now married to former Lorain County commissioner Michelle Hung's ex-husband, has sued the former commissioner in Common Pleas Court, alleging Hung used her status as an elected official to harass and intimidate Campbell for more than two years. Campbell filed the lawsuit Sept. 12. She has been married to Michelle Hung's ex-husband, Jeff Hung, since December. Campbell's lawsuit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution and abuse of process, and seeks more than $25,000 in damages for each of those three claims. It also seeks punitive damages of $250,000 along with fees and costs. The case has been assigned to Judge Chris Cook. Both Campbell and Michelle Hung are North Ridgeville residents. Michelle Hung said Monday she was served with the lawsuit on Saturday and hasn't responded yet. She said she has no contact with Campbell and doesn't want to have any. "I have had Ms. Campbell blocked on social media, on multiple accounts she uses, since early in 2022," Michelle Hung wrote in a statement to the Chronicle-Telegram. The Hungs have been divorced since August 2023. Campbell and Jeff Hung started dating while the Hungs were separated, and married on Dec. 17, 2024 according to Campbell's lawsuit. Michelle Hung "has never accepted her ex-husband's relationship with Rebecca, and from the onset, to this day, (Michelle Hung) will disparage and insult Rebecca in communications with Jeffrey, which, by court order, are to be solely about custody matters involving (Michelle Hung) and Jeffrey's daughter," according to Campbell's lawsuit. Campbell said Michelle Hung called North Ridgeville police on her on May 24, 2022, the first time Jeff Hung brought Campbell to meet his daughter. Police found nothing criminal had occurred. After that, according to Campbell's lawsuit, Michelle Hung used her position as county commissioner "to harass and intimidate" Campbell. That allegedly included in September 2022, when Michelle Hung allegedly asked the Lorain County Sheriff's Office to investigate Campbell for stalking. A more-than two-year investigation resulted in no criminal charges, according to Campbell's lawsuit. The dispute came to a head on March 7, 2024, at the Lincoln Day Dinner at German's Villa in Vermilion when Michelle Hung alleged that Campbell touched her shoulder "and threaten(ed) to 'beat her ass' in front of many patrons." The Sheriff's Office and Vermilion Police Department investigated, but there was no video of nor any witnesses to what happened between the women and no charges were filed, according to the lawsuit. Michelle Hung further alleged that Campbell threatened her at the 2024 Lorain County Fair, which Campbell denied. The Sheriff's Office investigation went away "coincidently" when Michelle Hung was defeated for reelection in 2024, according to Campbell's lawsuit. Michelle Hung then filed a petition for a civil stalking protection order in Common Pleas Court in February, a petition Campbell's lawsuit alleged was "meritless." Visiting Judge Timothy McGinty was appointed to hear the matter after all Common Pleas judges recused themselves due to Michelle Hung's former position, the lawsuit said. A full hearing was set to take place May 1, but Michelle Hung "was not prepared to move forward with her petition," the lawsuit said. Her request for a continuance was denied, and she dismissed the civil stalking protection order. Campbell alleged what Michelle Hung did, she did "with intent to harass and intimidate Rebecca under the false pretense that (Michelle Hung) was a victim of menacing by stalking," according to her lawsuit, using "her position as county commissioner and connections to local law enforcement" to do so. Michelle Hung said Monday the civil stalking protection order was dismissed May 1 by agreement of the attorneys involved. "I could have refiled that day, I chose not to. I have also denied my ex-husband's repeated requests to meet with" Campbell, Michelle Hung wrote in her statement to The Chronicle-Telegram. Background Michelle Hung's four-year term as an elected commissioner, from 2021 to the end of 2024, was marked by controversy that included major disputes with her fellow Republican on the board, commissioner David Moore, and resulted in numerous lawsuits. Michelle Hung and Moore both defeated incumbent Democrats in the 2020 election, giving them a 2-1 majority over commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat. Before 2021 ended, it was revealed that Michelle Hung was having an extramarital affair with Harry Williamson, a longtime Lorain County union official whom she and Moore had voted to hire to direct Lorain County 911 in a 2-1 vote, with Lundy voting against the hire. According to court records and Chronicle reporting, Michelle Hung voted to hire Williamson and pay him a $77,000 salary without telling Lundy or Moore that she was in a romantic relationship with Williamson. The affair was revealed in video footage of Michelle Hung and Williamson kissing in a county building in February 2021, footage obtained by The Chronicle. Lundy and Moore voted to fire Williamson in August 2021. Michelle Hung abstained from that vote. In the wake of the revelations she was romantically involved with a subordinate, Moore and other Republican officials demanded Michelle Hung resign, but she refused. Both Michelle Hung and Williamson later divorced their spouses. Williamson sued the county in Common Pleas Court, voluntarily dismissed that lawsuit and refiled it in federal court. Many of his claims against the county and elected officials were dismissed, though some remain. Michelle Hung and Lundy voted in late 2022 to award a multimillion-dollar contract to Cleveland Communications Inc., or CCI, for its L3 Harris radio system. Lundy lost his reelection bid that same year to Jeff Riddell, a Republican, who voted along with Moore to rescind that contract. Michelle Hung voted to keep CCI, and voted against replacing it with the Multi-Agency Radio Communications System, or MARCS. Moore alleged Michelle Hung and Williamson rigged the bidding for the CCI contract and steered the county toward CCI. Two criminal investigations found no evidence of that. CCI has also sued the county in federal court. That case is pending. Michelle Hung sued Moore for defamation in 2024 in Common Pleas Court. That case is pending before Visiting Judge Janet Burnside. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.