During its upcoming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case involving whether the sovereign immunity of an Indian tribe bars lawsuits seeking damages from tribal employees individually for wrongs they commit within the scope of their employment.

The high court announced Thursday that it would take up Lewis v. Clarke, in which a Pennsylvania couple sued the driver of a Mohegan Sun limousine that rear-ended a vehicle in which they were riding, seriously injuring them, in 2011.

Earlier this year, Connecticut’s Supreme Court found that the limousine driver, William Clarke of Norwich, couldn’t be sued in state courts because he was driving for a Native American gaming authority at the time of the accident.

Following that decision, the couple, Brian and Michelle Lewis of Bethlehem, Pa., petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Lewises originally sued in New London Superior Court in October 2013, naming Clarke and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority as defendants. Days later, they dropped the authority from the suit.

Clarke sought to have the case dismissed, claiming he was protected by the tribe’s sovereign immunity. Judge Leeland Cole-Chu denied the request, prompting Clarke to appeal to the state Appellate Court. In March, the Connecticut Supreme Court took the case.

James Harrington, the Waterford attorney who represented the Lewises, said in June 2015 that courts consistently have held that sovereign immunity extends to tribal employees sued in connection with their tribal capacities. Typically, such suits have sought damages from tribes.

“But we’re not suing him (Clarke) in his capacity as an employee,” Harrington said. “Rather, as an individual.”

Harrington also represented two couples who were riding in the limousine, which was taking them home from Mohegan Sun when the accident occurred on Interstate 95 in Norwalk. Both couples sued Mohegan Sun — not Clarke individually — in the Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com