Court OKs lawsuit over 'fat slob' remark

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A federal appeals court is allowing a free speech lawsuit to go ahead after a Kentucky man was arrested when he called a police officer a "fat slob."

The man, Kevin O. Kennedy, was angry over permits to expand a strip mall near his home in 2005 and called Joseph Schutzman, who is also a building inspector, a fat slob. Schutzman arrested Kennedy on a charge of disturbing the peace.

The charge was later dropped, but Kennedy sued the city of Villa Hills near Cincinnati, and the officer.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Kennedy's lawsuit over wrongful arrest and First Amendment violations can go forward.