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Costco Wholesale Corporation

30 distinct federal employment cases from public court records (20142026)

24 trusted published court opinions across 23 distinct cases

What public court records show

Public federal court records list Costco Wholesale Corporation as an employer in 30 distinct federal employment cases between 2014 and 2026.

Of the 24 trusted published opinions analyzed, the most common outcomes were: 13 ended in a ruling for the employer, 4 had a mixed result, 2 ended in a ruling for the worker, and 2 were dismissed.

Plaintiffs won 2 of 21 adjudicated opinions (10%).

The most common claims on record were Discrimination, Retaliation, and Failure To Accommodate.

Cases were filed across 12 states, most often in CA.

These figures summarize publicly available U.S. federal court records only. Most workplace disputes are resolved privately and never appear in litigation. A case outcome reflects many factors and is not a finding that any employer violated the law.

24
Published Opinions Analyzed

Written decisions across 23 distinct cases.

10%
Plaintiff Win Rate

2 of 21 adjudicated opinions ended in a plaintiff win.

Does not imply wrongdoing — many cases are dismissed or resolved without findings of liability.

12
States

Jurisdictions represented in the analyzed opinions.

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About this employer

Costco Wholesale Corporation appears in 24 trusted published federal employment opinions. Recent written decisions on record:

Pamela Reeves v. Costco Wholesale Corporation (2026) — Defendant Win. Pamela Reeves claimed that Costco fired her because of her age, an illegal form of discrimination. The company said it terminated her for taking unpaid chips from the store—a policy violation—not because of her age. Read the ruling.

Geddings v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (2025) — Dismissed. A worker named Geddings filed a discrimination and hostile work environment complaint against Costco Wholesale Corp. To pursue a federal lawsuit, Geddings needed to first file a charge with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission, a required step in discrimination cases. Read the ruling.

Suarez v. Costco Wholesale Corporation (2023) — Mixed Result. Suarez filed a lawsuit against Costco claiming discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on disability. The employee also alleged that Costco failed to provide reasonable workplace accommodations and created a hostile work environment. Costco asked the court to dismiss the entire case before trial. Read the ruling.

The published opinions primarily involve Discrimination (17 of 24), Retaliation (11 of 24), Failure to Accommodate (10 of 24). Browse the linked claim hubs for outcome statistics and other employers facing the same allegations. Discrimination, Retaliation and Failure to Accommodate.

Published opinions span California (8), Indiana (2), Illinois (2), Iowa (1). California is an EEOC deferral state, which extends the federal Title VII / ADA / ADEA filing deadline from 180 to 300 days. Browse state-specific employment rulings for jurisdictional patterns. California rulings, Indiana rulings, Illinois rulings and Iowa rulings.

These published opinions sit within the retail sector, where wage-and-hour, scheduling, and Title VII harassment claims are the dominant categories.

Opinion Outcomes

Defendant Win
13 (54%)
Mixed Result
4 (17%)
Plaintiff Win
2 (8%)
Dismissed
2 (8%)
Remanded
2 (8%)
Settlement
1 (4%)

Opinion Stages

24 analyzed opinions have a classified procedural stage.

Appeal
8 (33%)
Summary judgment
5 (21%)

Of the 5 summary-judgment opinions, 4 ended the case in Costco Wholesale Corporation’s favor and 1 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
7 (29%)
Trial verdict
2 (8%)
Settlement / consent decree
1 (4%)
Other rulings
1 (4%)
What do these stages mean?
Appeal
A higher court reviewing an earlier decision. Many published opinions come from this stage, after a lot has already happened in the case.
Summary judgment
A ruling where the judge decides the case — or part of it — without a trial, because one side argues the key facts are not in dispute. For workers, getting past this step is often the biggest hurdle.
Motion to dismiss
An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.
Trial verdict
A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.
Settlement / consent decree
The two sides resolved the dispute by agreement, sometimes with court approval. Most settlements are private and never show up in published opinions.
Other rulings
Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

Published federal-court opinions only — most workplace disputes are resolved privately. This is not anyone’s odds, and not a finding that any employer violated the law.

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What these numbers mean

A case is one lawsuit, identified by its court and docket number. The docket is the running court record for that same case — it is not an extra case.

A published opinion or ruling is a written court decision. One case can produce several opinions, so opinion counts and case counts answer different questions. Only trusted, reportable opinions are used in the outcome statistics on this page.

Docket entries are the individual filings inside a case — motions, orders, scheduling notices. We read them to confirm a case is real and to see where it got to, but an entry is never counted as a case or as an outcome. A single case can generate hundreds of entries.

Far fewer opinions than cases is normal. Many employment cases settle privately or close without a published opinion. No opinion here does not mean the worker lost; it means this public record does not show a reportable result.

Everything on this page comes from public federal court records. Where we are not confident a record is accurate, we leave it out rather than guess.

Federal court cases

public court records

One row per court+docket case · written opinions stay grouped inside their case · plaintiff names redacted

Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
IOWACTAPP · Jun 2026 · Iowa · Discrimination
Defendant Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corp.
D.N.M. · Feb 2025 · New Mexico · Discrimination
Dismissed
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corp.
C.D. Ill. · Apr 2024
Docket closed
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corp.
E.D.N.Y. · Feb 2024
Docket closed
Employee v. Costco
D. Minn. · Dec 2023
Docket closed
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
S.D. Fla. · Mar 2023 · Florida · Discrimination
Mixed Result
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
S.D. Cal. · Nov 2022 · California · Failure to Accommodate
Mixed Result
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
E.D. Mich. · Sep 2022 · Michigan · Discrimination
Defendant Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
N.D. Cal. · Jul 2022 · California · Wage Theft
Settlement
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
D. Colo. · Mar 2022 · Colorado · Discrimination
Defendant Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
S.D. Cal. · Mar 2022 · California · Discrimination
Plaintiff Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
C.D. Cal. · Jan 2022 · California · Discrimination
Remanded
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corp.
E.D. Cal. · Nov 2021 · California · Wage Theft
Defendant Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation Employee Benefits Program
N.D. Ill. · Oct 2021 · Illinois · Breach of Contract
Dismissed
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
S.D. Cal. · Sep 2021 · California · Discrimination
2 opinionsDefendant Win
Employee v. COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
S.D. Ind. · Aug 2021 · Indiana · Discrimination
Defendant Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Warehouse, Inc.
D. Haw. · Apr 2021 · Hawaii · Discrimination
Defendant Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
INND · Jun 2020 · Indiana · Failure to Accommodate
Mixed Result
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
C.D. Cal. · Mar 2020 · California · Wage Theft
Remanded
Employee v. Wilkes-Barre Area School District
M.D. Pa. · Mar 2020 · Pennsylvania · Discrimination
Defendant Win
Employee v. COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
D.N.J. · Jul 2019 · New Jersey · Discrimination
Defendant Win
State ex rel. Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Employee
Ohio Ct. App. · Apr 2019 · Workers’ Compensation
Defendant Win
EEOC v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
7th Circuit · Sep 2018 · Hostile Work Environment
Mixed Result
EEOC v. Costco Wholesale Corp.
7th Circuit · Sep 2018 · Hostile Work Environment
Plaintiff Win
Employee v. Costco Wholesale Corp.
S.D. Fla. · Aug 2018
Docket closed
Showing 25 of 30

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Data sourced from public federal court records via CourtListener.com. Case outcomes extracted using AI analysis. This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The presence of an employer on this page does not imply wrongdoing — many cases are dismissed or resolved without findings of liability.