Employment Rulings in the Federal Circuit
The Federal Circuit is different from the regional circuits: instead of covering a group of states, it hears certain federal-employee workplace appeals from across the country — for example, cases appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the agency that reviews federal-employee discipline and firing disputes.
Of the 174 published rulings we track here (1987–2026), 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 174 published rulings we track in the Federal Circuit.
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 174 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.
A higher court reviewing an earlier decision. Many published opinions come from this stage, after a lot has already happened in the case.
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 2 summary-judgment rulings here, 1 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 1 let the worker’s claims continue.
Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.
Top Claim Types
Top Employers
- United States Postal Service12
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission7
- U.S. Department of Labor6
- Netflix, Inc.3
- Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd.3
- Merit Systems Protection Board3
Recent Rulings in the Federal Circuit
Adams v. Internal Revenue Service
Avante at Boca Raton, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board
Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation v. Shell Oil Company
Eagle Comtronics, Inc. v. Arrow Communication Laboratories, Inc.
Adams
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company and Riker Laboratories, Inc., and Alphapharm Pty. Ltd., Intervenor-Appellant v. Barr Laboratories, Inc.
Abbott Laboratories and Mitsubishi-Tokyo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Formerly Known as Tokyo Tanabe Co., Ltd.) v. Dey, L.P. And Dey, Inc.
Ohio Cellular Products Corp. v. Adams USA, Inc.
Ohio Cellular Products Corp. v. Adams USA, Inc.
International Brotherhood of Painters & Allied Trades Union v. Darnell Painting Co.
Robinson Laboratories, Inc. v. ALS Enterprises, Inc.
Nichols Institute Diagnostics, Inc. v. Scantibodies Clinical Laboratory, Inc.
Talbert Fuel Systems Patents Co. v. Unocal Corporation, Union Oil Company of California, and Tosco Corporation
Okada
Eagle Comtronics, Inc. v. Arrow Communication Laboratories, Inc.
Gadash
American Federation of Government Employees v. United States
Braintree Laboratories, Inc. v. Nephro-Tech, Inc.
Hanna
Life Technologies, Inc. v. Clontech Laboratories, Inc.
Union Pacific Resources Co. v. Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Jeffrey W. Eisinger v. Federal Labor Relations Authority
Ohn J. Lokos v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Joseph L. Deshields, Jr. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Showing 151–174 of 174 rulings · Page 4 of 4
Browse Other Circuits
Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.
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.