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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court says a former Louisiana inmate who was imprisoned beyond his rightful release date can continue his lawsuit against a state prison system employee.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling keeps alive a lawsuit filed by Ellis Ray Hicks.

Corrections Secretary James LeBlanc and Corrections Department employee Terry Lawson had argued they were legally immune from such suits.

The appeals court agreed that LeBlanc should be dropped from the suit. But the court said Lawson was not immune from the lawsuit because his actions in denying Hicks his proper release date were “objectively unreasonable.”