Jack Gross will not get a new trial in a seven-year-old age discrimination case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and back to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Des Moines.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Thomas Shields ruled last month that he would neither reinstate an initial jury finding in Gross’ favor, nor would he set the case for retrial.

Gross filed a complaint in April 2004 claiming that West Des Moines-based FBL Financial Group Inc. denied him a promotion the previous year because of his age. He was 54 at the time.

After a five-day trial in 2005, a jury agreed that FBL did in fact knock him down from vice president to claims administrator because of his age. Though the jury found that Gross was a victim of age discrimination, it did not rule that the discrimination was intentional.

That ruling was been appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a ruling in 2009 that many legal observers say has tilted federal age discrimination law in favor of employers.

A second trial was held in 2010, and a jury found in favor of FBL.