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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 720 published rulings we track here (1978–2026), 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 720 published rulings we track in the D.C. Circuit.

Defendant Win
383 (53%)
Plaintiff Win
123 (17%)
Dismissed
83 (12%)
Mixed Result
79 (11%)
Remanded
50 (7%)
Settlement
2 (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 719 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
394 (55%)

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
102 (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 102 summary-judgment rulings here, 61 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 41 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
193 (27%)

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

Trial verdict
4 (1%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
1 (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
24 (3%)

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

Other rulings
1 (0%)

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

Top Employers

States in This Circuit

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

Recent Rulings in the D.C. Circuit

Stephens

Nov 23, 2015D.D.C.Dismissed

Walker v. Thomas

Nov 20, 2015D.D.C.Plaintiff Win

Spurlino Materials, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 13, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Hyundai America Shipping Agency, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 6, 2015D.C. CircuitMixed Result

Lucky Cab Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 3, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Sep 25, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Eley v. Stadium Group, LLC

Sep 22, 2015D.D.C.Mixed Result

Goddard

Sep 21, 2015D.D.C.Defendant Win

SSC Mystic Operating Co., LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 18, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Pacific Coast Supply, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 18, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Tridico v. District of Columbia

Sep 1, 2015D.D.C.Mixed Result

Teamsters Local Union No. 509 v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 21, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Benton

Aug 10, 2015D.D.C.Defendant Win

SW General, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 7, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Jamison Dupuy v. NLRB

Aug 7, 2015D.C. CircuitRemanded

Inova Health System v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 24, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Bruce Packing Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 24, 2015D.C. CircuitMixed Result

Rogers v. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689

Jul 21, 2015D.D.C.Plaintiff Win

Faye

Jul 20, 2015D.D.C.Defendant Win

Dupuy v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 17, 2015D.C. CircuitRemanded

Giles v. Transit Employees Federal Credit Union

Jul 14, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Southern New England Telephone Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 10, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Venetian Casino Resort, L.L.C. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 10, 2015D.C. CircuitMixed Result

Southern New England Telephone v. NLRB

Jul 10, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Children's Hospital & Research Center of Oakland, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 7, 2015D.C. CircuitRemanded

Fortuna Enterprises, LP v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 12, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Fallbrook Hospital Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

May 8, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

United States Department of Homeland Security v. Federal Labor Relations Authority

May 5, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

May 1, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Burnett

Apr 22, 2015D.D.C.Mixed Result

FLRA

Apr 7, 2015D.C. CircuitDismissed

Rogers v. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689

Mar 23, 2015D.D.C.Mixed Result

Deppenbrook ex rel. RTI Beaver Falls Employees v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

Feb 20, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Paul Deppenbrook v. PBGC

Feb 20, 2015D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Mercadante

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

Detroit International Bridge Company v. Government of Canada

Jan 14, 2015D.D.C.Dismissed

Mathew Enterprise, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 7, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

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

FLRA

Jun 17, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

FLRA

May 16, 2014D.C. CircuitDefendant Win

Johnson v. United States Department of Labor

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

Giles

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

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

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

Martin

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

Adams

Feb 21, 2014D.D.C.Dismissed

Schwartz Partners Packaging, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

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

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

Chambers v. Sebelius

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

Showing 301–350 of 720 rulings · Page 7 of 15

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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.