The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation community center. Photo from MPTN

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut is being sued by a former council member who was denied "transition pay" after losing her re-election bid.

Charlene Jones is claiming she is owed twelve weeks of pay after losing her 2009 election. That would amount to $92,465, according to the Associated Press.

Jones believes the tribe denied her request for transition pay because she voted to remove former chairman Michael Thomas from office earlier that year. "At this point I have to feel it's retaliatory," she told the AP.

Thomas was later found guilty of stealing from the tribe. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in November 2014.

Jones filed her lawsuit in tribal court. According to the AP, other former officials sued after being denied transition pay but the tribe has been able to assert sovereign immunity.

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Ex-Mashantucket Pequot tribal councilor alleges politics influenced denial of benefits (AP 5/2)