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Employment Rulings in the D.C. Circuit

The D.C. Circuit covers the federal courts in the District of Columbia. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 1,453 published rulings we track here (19732026), the breakdowns below show how they were decided. They describe published opinions only — not the odds of any particular situation.

How These Rulings Ended

Of the 1,453 published rulings we track in the D.C. Circuit.

Defendant Win
711 (49%)
Mixed Result
267 (18%)
Plaintiff Win
195 (13%)
Dismissed
147 (10%)
Remanded
128 (9%)
Settlement
5 (0%)

What Happens at Each Stage

A workplace lawsuit moves through stages, and a ruling can end it at any of them. Here is where the 1,447 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
848 (59%)

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
196 (14%)

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.

Of the 196 summary-judgment rulings here, 102 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 94 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
357 (25%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
5 (0%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
2 (0%)

The two sides resolved the dispute by agreement, sometimes with court approval. Most settlements are private and never show up in published opinions.

Default judgment
29 (2%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
10 (1%)

Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

States in This Circuit

Browse rulings from courts in each state the D.C. Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the D.C. Circuit

World Color (USA) Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 16, 2015D.C. CircuitRemanded

Mercadante

Jan 15, 2015D.D.C.Defendant Win

Detroit International Bridge Company v. Government of Canada

Jan 14, 2015D.D.C.Dismissed

Peterson

Dec 1, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Rhea Lana, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor

Nov 21, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Mathew Enterprise, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 7, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Service Employees International Union National Industry Pension Fund v. Bristol Manor Healthcare Center, Inc.

Oct 29, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Haynes

Oct 22, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Howard University

Sep 30, 2014D.D.C.Mixed Result

National Children's Center, Inc. v. Service Employees International Union, Local 500

Sep 19, 2014D.D.C.Mixed Result

National Postal Mail Handlers Union v. United States Postal Service

Sep 12, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

American Postal Workers Union, Afl-Cio v. United States Postal Service

Aug 26, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Otis Elevator Company v. Secretary of Labor

Aug 15, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Otis Elevator Company v. Secretary of Labor

Aug 15, 2014D.C. CircuitMixed Result

Europa Auto Imports, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 11, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Service Employees International Union National Industry Pension Fund v. Crystal Cleaning Systems, Inc.

Jul 22, 2014D.D.C.Plaintiff Win

FLRA

Jun 17, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Haynes

Jun 10, 2014D.D.C.Mixed Result

Artharee

Jun 10, 2014D.D.C.Plaintiff Win

Service Employees International Union National Industry Pension Fund v. Hamilton Park Health Care Center, Ltd.

Jun 6, 2014D.D.C.Dismissed

United States Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs & Border Protection v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

Jun 3, 2014D.C. CircuitPlaintiff Win

Adams

May 22, 2014D.D.C.Dismissed

FLRA

May 16, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Johnson v. United States Department of Labor

May 8, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Davis

May 2, 2014D.C. CircuitRemanded

Clark-Williams

Apr 21, 2014D.D.C.Mixed Result

Remington Lodging & Hospitality, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 8, 2014D.C. CircuitMixed Result

Giles

Mar 27, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

FLRA

Mar 21, 2014D.C. CircuitMixed Result

FLRA

Mar 21, 2014D.C. CircuitPlaintiff Win

['Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. U.S. Department of Labor']

Mar 20, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Beaudreau

Mar 14, 2014D.D.C.Dismissed

Martin

Feb 24, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Adams

Feb 21, 2014D.D.C.Dismissed

Jackson v. Teamsters Local Union 922

Feb 12, 2014D.D.C.Mixed Result

Rodriguez

Feb 4, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Wright

Jan 30, 2014D.D.C.Dismissed

Schwartz Partners Packaging, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 28, 2014D.D.C.Defendant Win

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. United States Section, International Boundary & Water Commission

Jan 22, 2014D.C. CircuitDismissed

Service Employees International Union National Industry Pension Fund v. D & M Property Maintenance, Inc.

Jan 17, 2014D.C. CircuitPlaintiff Win

Service Employees International Union National Industry Pension Fund v. D&M Property Maintenance, Inc.

Jan 17, 2014D.D.C.Plaintiff Win

FLRA

Jan 3, 2014D.C. CircuitPlaintiff Win

Chambers v. Sebelius

Dec 31, 2013D.D.C.Defendant Win

Holloway v. District of Columbia Government

Dec 30, 2013D.D.C.Mixed Result

Minor

Dec 30, 2013D.D.C.Dismissed

Gaughf Properties, L.P. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service

Dec 27, 2013D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Olga Hernandez v. Penny Pritzker

Dec 24, 2013D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Sickle v. Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, LLC

Dec 24, 2013D.D.C.Dismissed

Slate v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Dec 20, 2013D.D.C.Defendant Win

Edwards v. Gray

Dec 20, 2013D.D.C.Mixed Result

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

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These figures summarize publicly available published court opinions only. Published opinions over-represent summary-judgment rulings (decisions made without a trial) and appeals, because those are the stages where judges most often write formal opinions. Most workplace disputes settle privately and never appear here at all. A ruling’s outcome reflects many case-specific factors and is not a prediction for any other situation. Read more about how we source and classify rulings.

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 classification of outcomes and case stages is based on automated analysis and may not reflect the full scope of each case.