A former commissioner for the tribal casino is entitled to unemployment benefits, the Iowa Employment Appeal Board ruled. Tribal attorneys said they might appeal the board's 3-0 decision to a district court. The board approved the payment of jobless benefits to Anthony L. Waseskuk of Montour, upholding an earlier decision by an administrative law judge. The board said it adopted the judge's reasoning and rejected the tribal argument Waseskuk was not employed under Iowa law because of the sovereign status of the tribe. Waseskuk worked as casino gaming commissioner at the casino west of Tama from November 1998 to April 2000. In an earlier ruling, Judge Bonny Hendricksmeyer noted any misconduct that led to Waseskuk's firing in April 2000 did not meet the standard of misconduct to prevent paying jobless benefits. Waseskuk admitted referring to the size of a female employee's stomach, but he said he did so in a congratulatory way thinking she was pregnant. She wasn't. The administrative law judge called Waseskuk's comment to the employee "inappropriate'' but an "isolated incident of poor judgment.'' His actions did not rise to the level of substantial, job-related misconduct, the judge ruled.