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Employment Rulings in the Fifth Circuit

The Fifth Circuit covers the federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 1,704 published rulings we track here (19702026), 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 1,704 published rulings we track in the Fifth Circuit.

Defendant Win
726 (43%)
Dismissed
285 (17%)
Mixed Result
263 (15%)
Plaintiff Win
208 (12%)
Remanded
173 (10%)
Settlement
49 (3%)

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 1,689 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
766 (45%)

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
297 (18%)

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 297 summary-judgment rulings here, 188 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 108 let the worker’s claims continue; the rest resolved in other ways.

Motion to dismiss
505 (30%)

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

Trial verdict
40 (2%)

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

Settlement / consent decree
42 (2%)

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
15 (1%)

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

Other rulings
24 (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 Fifth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Fifth Circuit

Gordon

Jun 14, 2022M.D. La.Plaintiff Win

BAUTISTA

Jun 13, 2022W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Suarez

Jun 13, 2022E.D. Tex.Dismissed

Estrada

Jun 13, 20225th CircuitDefendant Win

Jostens, Inc. v. Hammons, Jr.

Jun 10, 2022E.D. Tex.Remanded

Badon

Jun 10, 2022E.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Anadarko E&P v. California Union Ins

Jun 10, 20225th CircuitDefendant Win

Burch

Jun 10, 20225th CircuitDismissed

Adams

Jun 3, 2022E.D. La.Defendant Win

Adamou

Jun 2, 20225th CircuitDefendant Win

Wright

May 31, 2022S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Parada

May 25, 2022S.D. Tex.Dismissed

Doe

May 25, 2022M.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Kim

May 19, 2022E.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Kim

May 19, 2022E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Weary

May 19, 2022M.D. La.Defendant Win

Kim

May 17, 2022E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Smithson

May 11, 2022W.D. Tex.Dismissed

Blackmon

May 5, 2022S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

MMR Constructors, Inc. v. JB Group of LA, LLC

Apr 26, 2022M.D. La.Defendant Win

Exela Enterprise Solutions v. NLRB

Apr 22, 20225th CircuitDefendant Win

Berry

Apr 21, 2022N.D. Tex.Remanded

Burch

Apr 21, 20225th CircuitDismissed

Moates

Apr 18, 2022N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Mendoza-Gomez

Apr 14, 20225th CircuitDefendant Win

BLET

Apr 13, 20225th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Ibarra

Apr 6, 2022W.D. Tex.Settlement

Gadasalli

Apr 1, 2022E.D. Tex.Dismissed

Jimerson

Mar 31, 2022N.D. Tex.Remanded

Fulbright

Mar 31, 2022N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Vega

Mar 29, 2022E.D. La.Defendant Win

Adams

Mar 29, 20225th CircuitDismissed

Dickson

Mar 22, 2022N.D. Tex.Remanded

Taylor

Mar 21, 2022N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Holley

Mar 18, 2022N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Collier

Mar 15, 2022W.D. La.Defendant Win

Egan

Mar 14, 2022W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Kovac

Mar 10, 2022N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Adams

Mar 9, 2022W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Evans

Mar 8, 2022M.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Fulbright

Mar 2, 2022N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

BNSF Railway Company v. International Association of Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers

Feb 22, 2022N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Muslow

Feb 15, 2022E.D. La.Mixed Result

Xia

Feb 11, 2022N.D. Tex.Remanded

Adams

Jan 27, 2022M.D. La.Mixed Result

Madaki

Jan 25, 2022N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Field

Jan 24, 2022S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Nixon

Jan 24, 2022M.D. La.Mixed Result

Badon

Jan 24, 2022M.D. La.Defendant Win

Ned

Jan 21, 2022W.D. La.Dismissed

Browse Other 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.