A suit in which a former patent attorney for French cosmetics giant L'Oréal alleged he was fired for standing up for ethical legal practices was dismissed in its early stages. But now a federal appeals court has reinstated the case, saying the claims “were more than skin-deep.”

A split three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday reversed a New Jersey federal judge's prediscovery dismissal of Steven J. Trzaska's Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) lawsuit against L'Oréal.

Trzaska claimed that L'Oréal forced its patent lawyers to meet a quota of patent applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, even if the products were not believed to be patentable.