HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A former Mashantucket Pequot official who earned as much as $500,000 annually during the prime of its Foxwoods Resort Casino is suing the tribe over unpaid benefits, accusing it of punishing her for a vote to remove a tribal leader.

The lawsuit from Charlene Jones, who was denied “transition pay” after she lost a re-election bid for tribal council in 2009, is one of several filed in recent years by members arguing they were denied payments or other benefits promised in the free-spending days before a financial downturn hit the Western Hemisphere’s largest casino.

As the tribe has divided what remains of the casino money, Jones alleges internal politics were behind a decision to deny her payments that traditionally were issued to cushion the departure of tribal council members. She was among the tribal councilors who ousted tribal chairman Michael Thomas in 2009 over his handling of the financial crisis.

“At this point I have to feel it’s retaliatory,” Jones said. She said after she lost re-election a relative of Thomas told her “the membership was looking for blood.”

In the lawsuit filed in tribal court, Jones is seeking $92,465, the equivalent of twelve weeks of transition pay. The claim has been blocked on grounds that the tribe has sovereign immunity but Jones and her attorney are pursuing an appeal.

Bill Satti, a spokesman for the tribe, said it would not comment on the lawsuit.

“This case is before the Mashantucket Pequot Court of Appeals, which provides a fair and impartial process for the resolution of disputes like this one. The Tribe will respect any decision of the Court and otherwise does not comment on pending litigation,” he wrote in a statement.

In some ways the lawsuit tells the story of the tribe’s financial reversal. The salary for a tribal council member had dropped from $500,000 to $375,000 by Jones’ last term in office, she said, and budget cuts led the tribe to eliminate a promise to create jobs for departing councilors. Jones said that she was also told transition pay was no longer available, but she learned that it was issued to others who left the council, including the ousted Michael Thomas. Thomas was later convicted in federal court of stealing from the tribe.

Foxwoods opened in 1992 and for years enjoyed a regional monopoly on casino gambling. As the economy soured and competition grew, the casino struggled with debt topping $2 billion, leading to the tribe’s elimination in 2012 of stipends for adult tribal members that once exceeded $100,000 annually.

In a separate lawsuit Jones, 51, is challenging the tribe’s hiring of Thomas’ brother Steven Thomas, who also has been convicted of stealing for the tribe, for a job she also sought at Foxwoods. She said she is perplexed by the way she has been treated.

“I’ve got 29 years here. I was here when there was nothing. I lived in a trailer and had a garden hose for water,” she said. “I’ve lived through some of the toughest times up here and continue to raise my children and grandchildren here and can’t seem to qualify for anything other than an entry-level position.”