PORTLAND – A 6-year-old Pleasant Point property dispute was sent back to Washington County Superior Court on Tuesday by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The justices ruled unanimously that the evidence record was not sufficient for the lower court judge to determine that the dispute was an internal tribal matter.

Pamela Francis, the former director of the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Housing Authority, filed suit nearly two years ago against her successor, claiming that Colleen Dana-Cummings authorized illegal entry into her house and the removal of her personal belongings.

Francis, who now lives in Old Orchard Beach, filed the suit in Washington County Superior Court and in Pleasant Point Tribal Court in 2002. The housing authority denied any wrongdoing and filed a counterclaim alleging that Francis had no right to occupy the house.

Maine Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead granted the housing authority’s motion to dismiss the suit, ruling it should be decided by the tribal court because it was a dispute between two members of the Passamaquoddy tribe. Francis appealed that decision to the state’s high court, which heard the case in October.

“Now we must litigate whether or not this is an internal tribal matter,” Curtis Webber, Francis’ Auburn attorney, said Tuesday. “We want the case heard in Superior Court and think it’s appropriate for it to be heard there. We’re pleased that the case is going back for further litigation.”

The Superior Court still could decide that the dispute is an internal tribal matter and send it to the Pleasant Point Tribal Court, according to the opinion.

Keighn Smith Jr., the tribe’s Portland attorney, on Tuesday described the decision as procedural.

“Basically, the court said, ‘It’s not baked, yet,’ and sent it back down to be baked some more,” he said.

Francis claimed in her lawsuit that on Feb. 24, 1998, Dana-Cummings directed housing authority employees to enter Francis’ residence forcibly and evict her. The incident stemmed from a dispute over a $200,000 house in which Francis lived on the reservation, known locally as “The Mansion.” The house is located on a hill with panoramic views of Passamaquoddy Bay.

She claims ownership of the house as the designated successor interest of her father, Edward Bassett Sr., now deceased. Francis and the housing authority have been at odds since her firing in November 1996.

In another matter, the justices on Tuesday reduced a judgment by $22,650 in a discrimination suit brought by Vance Ginn of Abbott against his former employer, Kelley Pontiac-Mazda Inc. Ginn was awarded a total of $106,825 after a jury found that he had been discriminated against by the Bangor car dealership.

Ginn alleged that he was fired when he complained that the company’s practice of selling used cars without first inspecting them.

The state’s high court ruled that Maine Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm erred when he included the value of Ginn’s employer-provided vehicle in calculation of the award of back pay.

The justices, however, affirmed Hjelm’s decision in the mitigation of damages first awarded by the jury hearing the civil case.