PORTLAND (AP) – Maine’s attorney general Wednesday appealed a federal court ruling that said the Aroostook Band of Micmacs is not subject to state employment discrimination laws.

The appeal, filed in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, seeks a review of U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk’s ruling that the Maine Human Rights and Whistleblower Protection acts do not apply to the tribe because it has a statutory right of self-governance.

While last month’s ruling focused solely on employment discrimination laws, it left open the possibility that the tribe is exempt from other state laws as well, said Attorney General Steven Rowe.

“We believe it is important to have the court of appeals review the decision,” Rowe said. “Hopefully that review will clarify the legal nature of the band’s relationship with the state.”

Last month’s ruling stemmed from the tribe’s 2001 firing of three Aroostook County women who then complained to the Maine Human Rights Commission that their terminations violated the Maine Whistleblower Protection Act.

The commission found in the women’s favor, but the small northern Maine tribe contended the commission, which is a state agency, does not have jurisdiction over the tribe’s affairs since the band is a sovereign nation.

Kravchuk ruled in the tribe’s favor by striking down a 1989 state law that specifically made the Micmacs subject to state law. The law was never certified by the tribe and therefore never took effect, she ruled.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Indian Nation and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians are subject to most state laws under a 1980 land claims settlement with the state. The Micmac tribe, which was not federally recognized at the time, is not named in that agreement.

State attorneys argued that the 1980 settlement was meant to cover all Indians in Maine and therefore does apply to the Micmacs.

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