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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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. First Metropolitan Financial Services, Inc.

Jan 26, 2021N.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Traweek

Jan 20, 2021E.D. La.Dismissed

Field

Jan 14, 2021S.D. Tex.Dismissed

Owens

Jan 12, 2021E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Badaiki

Jan 8, 2021S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Nance-Bush

Jan 6, 2021S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Nkumba

Dec 29, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

Siegel

Dec 24, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

Leal

Dec 23, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Hernandez

Dec 17, 2020E.D. Tex.Remanded

Hernandez

Dec 17, 2020E.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Yadav

Dec 16, 2020W.D. Tex.Dismissed

Scott

Dec 16, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Union Pacific Railroad Company v. American Railway

Dec 16, 20205th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Babin

Dec 11, 2020E.D. La.Mixed Result

Huddleston

Dec 4, 2020S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Mario Estrada-Hernandez v. William Barr, U. S. Att

Dec 4, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Rodriguez

Dec 2, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

Umphress

Nov 12, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

Kidwell

Nov 2, 2020E.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Moore

Oct 30, 2020W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Moore

Oct 30, 2020W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Brisco

Oct 21, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Richardson v. Famous Bourbon Management Group, Inc.

Oct 16, 2020E.D. La.Defendant Win

Field

Oct 15, 2020S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Adams

Oct 15, 2020M.D. La.Mixed Result

Brooke Adams v. Fan Chen

Oct 8, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Murphy v. Stevens Transport Inc

Oct 7, 2020N.D. Tex.Settlement

Armstead

Sep 29, 2020E.D. La.Defendant Win

William Adams v. Alcolac, Inc.

Sep 25, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Wagner

Sep 24, 2020M.D. La.Mixed Result

Manfre-Lane

Sep 22, 2020N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Foley

Sep 21, 2020S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

STP Nuclear Operating Company v. NLRB

Sep 16, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Sutherland

Sep 10, 2020E.D. La.Defendant Win

William Adams v. Alcolac, Inc.

Sep 8, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Winn

Sep 3, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

Delise Adams v. Memorial Hermann

Aug 31, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Jackson v. R B A & Co L L C

Aug 31, 2020W.D. La.Remanded

Kidwell

Aug 31, 2020E.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Chaves

Aug 28, 2020W.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Dowdell

Aug 28, 2020E.D. La.Defendant Win

Johns Manville v. United Steel Paper and Forestry Rubber Manufacturing Energy Allied Industrial Service Workers International Union GMP Council of the MSW

Aug 26, 2020N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Skogen

Aug 26, 2020E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Sandra Posadas-Tobar v. William Barr, U. S. Atty G

Aug 26, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Field

Aug 24, 2020S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Siria Estrada-Zambreno v. William Barr, U.

Aug 20, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

Caliste

Aug 18, 2020E.D. La.Defendant Win

Umphress

Aug 14, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

Boatwright

Aug 5, 2020N.D. Tex.Remanded

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.