LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has ruled that a former prisoner who was sexually assaulted by a guard can sue the corrections department for retaliating against him after he reported the incident.

The court on Tuesday reinstated part of a lawsuit filed by the 33-year-old ex-inmate. The guard, Anthony Hansen, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of an inmate in May 2012.

Court papers say Hansen pressured the inmate into meeting him in a commons area at the Omaha Correctional Center and sexually assaulted him. The inmate says that after he reported the assault, he was placed in segregation and eventually transferred to a maximum-security prison.

The appeals court upheld a judge’s dismissal of claims alleging that the state was negligent in hiring and supervising Hansen and in protecting the inmate.