(Richmond, Virginia-AP) May 26, 2004 -- A federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit filed by a South Carolina mechanic who was fired for displaying Confederate flag stickers on his toolbox.

The court ruled the case never should have been removed from state court. The court said in a unanimous decision that Matthew Dixon's lawsuit against Coburg Dairy in Charleston did not raise a substantial question of federal law.

Coburg Dairy fired Dixon, a refrigerator mechanic, for refusing to use a different toolbox after a black co-worker complained at Coburg's North Charleston office. Coburg says Dixon violated its workplace harassment policy.

Dixon says the company violated state employment laws and his free-speech rights. The court says the case hinges on a state law that makes it illegal to fire a person based on politicial opinions or the exercise of political rights guaranteed by the state or US constitutions.

The court says the case should be sent to the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas where it originated before Coburg had it moved to federal court.

Last May a three-judge panel of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, upheld a judge's dismissal of the lawsuit, saying Dixon has the constitutional right to fly the flag at home or on his car or truck, but does not have the right to take it into his employer's privately-owned business. 

updated 9:00am by BrettWitt