Luzerne County Chief Public Defender Albert J. Flora Jr.—who, before being forced out, had sued the county for underfunding the office—can continue with his previously dismissed wrongful-termination suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled.

The litigants in the case grappled with the key issue of whether he filed his funding suit as a private citizen acting for the public good—which is considered speech protected by the First Amendment—or as a public official.

Flora v. Luzerne County was argued in November before Third Circuit Judges Kent A. Jordan, Marjorie O. Rendell and Richard Nygaard, who participated via telephone.