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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

Heerwagen

Feb 20, 2020N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Bowen

Feb 19, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Caliste

Feb 19, 2020E.D. La.Remanded

Houston v. Southwest Airlines

Feb 18, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

USA v. BestCare Laboratory Services

Feb 17, 20205th CircuitDefendant Win

G H X Industrial L L C v. Servco Hose and Supply L L C

Feb 5, 2020W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Nova Scotia Health Employees' Pension Plan v. BP, PLC

Jan 30, 2020S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Potseluyko

Jan 30, 2020S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Osborne

Jan 28, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Vela

Jan 27, 2020S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

De Valentino v. Houston Independent School District

Jan 24, 2020S.D. Tex.Dismissed

Jennifer Garcia v. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union

Jan 22, 2020W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Spriggs

Jan 22, 2020M.D. La.Defendant Win

Santa-Marina

Jan 22, 2020E.D. La.Remanded

Tarpeh

Jan 16, 2020N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Nicole Quezada v. Bechtel OG & C Construction

Jan 14, 20205th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Anibowei

Jan 14, 2020N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Heckman

Jan 13, 2020S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

De Valentino v. Houston Independent School District

Jan 6, 2020S.D. Tex.Dismissed

Thomas

Jan 3, 2020S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Jones

Jan 3, 2020S.D. Tex.Dismissed

Jones

Dec 20, 2019E.D. La.Remanded

Moore

Dec 19, 2019W.D. La.Dismissed

Stone Clinical Laboratories, LLC v. Agena Bioscience, Inc.

Dec 19, 2019E.D. La.Remanded

Robert Edgar v. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, et

Dec 16, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Pegues

Dec 10, 2019W.D. Tex.Dismissed

Smith v. Metro Security, Inc.

Dec 9, 2019E.D. La.Dismissed

Dial

Dec 6, 2019N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Meisenheimer

Dec 4, 2019N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Tingle

Dec 4, 2019S.D. Miss.Dismissed

Derrick Davis v. Raymond Laborde Corrtl Center, et

Dec 2, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Murphy v. Pine Belt Federal Credit Union

Nov 25, 2019S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Ellis

Nov 22, 2019W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Holdridge

Nov 21, 2019M.D. La.Dismissed

Hernandez

Nov 15, 2019W.D. Tex.Dismissed

Moody v. Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.

Nov 14, 2019E.D. La.Defendant Win

Holmes

Nov 12, 2019E.D. Tex.Remanded

Diamondback Industries, Inc. v. Repeat Precision, LLC

Nov 7, 2019N.D. Tex.Settlement

Diaz

Nov 5, 2019E.D. La.Mixed Result

Barry Badeaux v. BP Exploration & Prodn, Inc., et

Nov 5, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Jones

Nov 4, 2019E.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Serna

Oct 28, 2019W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Ramakrishna

Oct 28, 2019N.D. Tex.Remanded

Akbulut

Oct 28, 2019N.D. Tex.Remanded

Babin

Oct 25, 2019E.D. La.Mixed Result

Cordova

Oct 24, 2019W.D. La.Defendant Win

Traweek

Oct 23, 2019E.D. La.Defendant Win

Armstead

Oct 18, 2019E.D. La.Dismissed

Adams

Oct 15, 2019W.D. La.Defendant Win

Adams

Oct 3, 2019M.D. La.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.