Mashantucket - When Foxwoods Resort Casino gave Steven Thomas a job in its human resources department last December, the former Mashantucket Pequot treasurer had resigned from the tribal council and was awaiting sentencing on a felony conviction for embezzling from the tribe, which owns the casino.

Three months later, the tribe's elders council would "banish" Thomas for a year from most tribal lands, though not from his home or his place of employment.

Now, in a case being heard in Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court, the tribe's gaming enterprise and its employment rights office are being called upon to defend Thomas' hiring. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 18.

In court documents, Charlene Jones, a former tribal councilor, alleges that Thomas was not qualified for the human resources job - manager of tribal and Native American relations - and, in any case, should have been considered ineligible because he was not in "good standing" with the tribe. Thomas interviewed for the job Dec. 6, 2013, and was hired nine days later, according to court documents.

Jones, 50, who currently works for the tribe-owned Pequot Pharmaceutical Network, also interviewed for the job, and claims she is more qualified for the position than Thomas.

Months before his hiring, in October 2013, the 40-year-old Thomas pleaded guilty in federal court to falsifying time cards that overstated the hours he worked in 2007 as assistant director of the tribal government's Department of Natural Resources Protection. He was sentenced Feb. 26, 2014, to two years of probation, the first three months of which were to be served in home confinement, and ordered to repay the tribe $177,603 - the amount of his 2007 salary.

The day before entering his guilty plea, Thomas resigned from the tribal council, as required by the tribe's constitution and by-laws, which prohibit a councilor from serving if "found guilty of a felony or misdemeanor involving dishonesty in any state or federal court."

On March 12, 2014, the elders council voted to banish him.

In an interview, Jones said Thomas' hiring "defies logic and common sense." She called the banishment terms that allow him to work at Foxwoods "unique."

While Jones claims Thomas' hiring violated the tribal law that affords preference to Mashantucket tribal members and other Native Americans seeking jobs on the tribe's reservation, the Mashantucket Employment Rights Office, or MERO, says in a court filing that Thomas "was not under a banishment order when he was hired."

The MERO director, Ursula Haerter, writes in a memorandum, "Explicit restrictions imposed by the Tribe's Constitution or certain Tribal policies on benefits if a Tribal member is a felon or is indebted to the tribe do not affect what constitutes 'good standing' under the Preference Law. … Title 33 (the law) includes no limitations specific to felons or debtors. Rather, it requires only that a Tribal Member not be banished."

The Elders Council has the sole authority to make determinations regarding banishment, Haerter asserts.

MERO and the tribal gaming enterprise have asked that the tribal court dismiss Jones' claim. Jones, who is represented by attorney Henry Sockbeson, is expected to file a motion this week seeking a summary judgment in her favor.

Judge Edward O'Connell is hearing the case.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck