Mashantucket — A flawed interpretation of what it means for a Mashantucket Pequot to be in "good standing" with the tribe enabled Foxwoods Resort Casino to hire a convicted felon for a manager's job that should have gone to another candidate, an attorney argued Thursday in tribal court.

Henry Sockbeson, representing Charlene Jones, a former tribal councilor, called former tribal Treasurer Steven Thomas' hiring in December 2013 "an absurd outcome."

Thomas had been forced to resign from the tribal council and was awaiting sentencing on a felony conviction for embezzling from the tribe when the tribe-owned casino named him manager of tribal and Native American relations. Weeks later, he was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to repay the tribe nearly $178,000. And then, in March 2014, the tribe's elders council - all tribal members 55 and older - voted to banish him.

"You shouldn't hire someone who has been convicted of stealing from you," Sockbeson said, addressing Judge Edward O'Connell.

But, in the case of a tribal member, you can, so long as he isn't banished from the tribe at the time you hire him, according to Ursula Haerter, director of the Mashantucket Employment Rights Office.

Haerter said MERO had no authority to interpret the term "good standing," which the elders council has defined as "not currently banished."

While acknowledging that no tribal law offers an ironclad definition of the term, Sockbeson said MERO's reliance on the elders' definition constituted an "abuse of its discretion." He said at least three other tribal agencies have adopted other definitions of what amounts to good standing and have denied benefits to tribal members accused of felony crimes or who are in debt to the tribe.

For example, Sockbeson said, tribal members accused of a felony were ineligible to receive the so-called incentive payments that were once distributed from casino profits. He also posed a hypothetical scenario in which a tribal member found guilty of molestation charges applied for a job in the tribe's day care center. Would he be in good standing so long as he hadn't been banished?

"The rationale the MERO has adopted doesn't make any sense," Sockbeson said.

O'Connell asked what standard he should apply were he to look beyond the elders' definition of good standing. Sockbeson said it was well within the court's discretion to reject a narrow definition that "insults one's intelligence."

The judge indicated he would rule "soon" on a MERO motion seeking dismissal of Jones' claim. He dismissed "without prejudice" Jones' request that Haerter be removed from the case because of a potential conflict of interest. Haerter heard Jones' original MERO claim before it reached the court.

Jones could renew her motion, the judge said, if the matter advances to a trial at which Haerter could be called to testify.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck