Federal court upholds Ohio firefighter's challenge

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of an Ohio firefighter challenging his punishment for blasting city officials over budget cuts he blamed in a child’s drowning.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on today reinstated the lawsuit against Bay Village, a Cleveland suburb. Firefighter Ron Westmoreland claims he was unlawfully disciplined for speaking out at a city council meeting after the 2008 drowning. Westmoreland charged that a 7-year-old boy was doomed by the earlier elimination of the city’s dive team to save money.

Bay Village suspended him for the equivalent of three 24-hour shifts for alleged insubordination and “inciteful misstatements.” The three-judge appeals panel in Cincinnati sent the case back to U.S. District Court, saying the city must prove Westmoreland’s claims were knowingly or recklessly false.