UPDATE 1-Drug company won't appeal gay rights ruling to top U.S. court
UPDATE 1-Drug company won't appeal gay rights ruling to top U.S. court
Tue Aug 5, 2014
By Dan Levine
Aug 5 (Reuters) - An appeals court ruling that extended landmark constitutional protections for gays and lesbians will not be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, a spokesman for one of the drug companies in the case said on Tuesday.
The issue began when a gay man was excluded from jury service in a lawsuit brought by GlaxoSmithKline against AbbVie over HIV pricing. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January had found that the man was improperly excluded because of his sexual orientation.
The court's January opinion heightened constitutional protections judges in several Western states must now apply when evaluating laws that curtail gay rights.
AbbVie spokesman Dirk Van Eeden said on Tuesday the company would not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 9th Circuit's findings. A Glaxo representative could not immediately be reached for comment....
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