A former school police supervisor identified in a CBS Philadelphia news broadcast as being under investigation for child sex abuse should be allowed to proceed with his case against the TV station, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

The lower court had nixed the case, finding that plaintiff Howard Rubin could not show the CBS-owned and -operated station had acted negligently because a subsequently-discovered termination letter indicated Rubin had been fired for failing to heed a warning about “fraternizing with minors.” However, a unanimous three-judge panel of the court ruled June 13 that the trial court erred in tossing the claims over a segment, which identified him as having been fired over sex abuse allegations.

Judge H. Geoffrey Moulton, who wrote the majority opinion, said that, at the judgment on the pleadings stage, the issue came down to falsity and fault, and the lower court's ruling prematurely dismissed the case.