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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

Department of Labor v. Five Star Automatic Fire Protection, LLC

Sep 30, 2019W.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union No. 669, U.A., AFL-CIO v. CCR Fire Protection, LLC

Sep 27, 2019M.D. La.Defendant Win

Eugene v. International-Matex Tank Terminals LLC

Sep 27, 2019E.D. La.Defendant Win

Krishnan

Sep 26, 2019E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Swales

Sep 24, 2019S.D. Miss.Settlement

Murillo

Sep 23, 2019W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Kaesemeyer

Sep 11, 2019W.D. La.Remanded

Arce

Sep 9, 2019E.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Flowers

Sep 3, 2019N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

U.S. Equal Employment v. JC Wings Enterprises, L.L

Aug 30, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Aug 29, 2019S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

McCaskill

Aug 29, 2019N.D. Tex.Remanded

Armstead

Aug 28, 2019E.D. La.Dismissed

Aucoin

Aug 26, 2019M.D. La.Defendant Win

Bennett

Aug 21, 2019W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Biziko

Aug 20, 2019N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Mun. Employees' Ret. Sys. of Mich. v. Pier 1 Imports, Inc.

Aug 19, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Burns

Aug 19, 2019W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Poole

Aug 15, 2019W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Valenzuela

Aug 13, 2019N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Woods

Aug 12, 2019W.D. Tex.Dismissed

Taboada A. v. AmFirst Insurance Company

Aug 6, 2019S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Thomas

Aug 6, 2019M.D. La.Mixed Result

Traylor

Aug 1, 2019W.D. La.Defendant Win

Dunn

Jul 31, 2019E.D. La.Remanded

Michael Faciane v. Sun Life Asuc Co. of Canada

Jul 25, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Johnson v. Trans Union L L C

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

Duggan

Jul 3, 2019S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Rule

Jul 3, 2019W.D. La.Plaintiff Win

State v. U.S. Dep't of Labor

Jul 2, 20195th CircuitPlaintiff Win

LABR

Jul 2, 20195th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Brooks

Jul 1, 2019N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Gallagher

Jun 28, 2019N.D. Tex.Remanded

Thomas

Jun 26, 2019M.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Epley

Jun 24, 2019N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Mark Estrada v. Anita Limon

Jun 18, 20195th CircuitDismissed

Adam Joseph Resources v. CNA Metals Limited

Apr 30, 20195th CircuitRemanded

Oceans Healthcare, L. L.C. v. Ill. Union Ins. Co.

Mar 30, 2019E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Adam Joseph Res. (M) Sdn. Bhd. v. Cna Metals Ltd.

Mar 26, 20195th CircuitRemanded

Quianna Canada v. Texas Mutual Insurance Company

Mar 26, 20195th CircuitDefendant Win

Gallo

Feb 19, 2019W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Carter

Feb 1, 2019N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Badeaux

Jan 31, 2019E.D. La.Defendant Win

Sw. Airlines Co. v. Local 555, Transp. Workers Union of Am. AFL-CIO

Jan 9, 20195th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Joseph Blimline v. Thirty Unknown Employees

Dec 3, 20185th CircuitRemanded

John Thorne v. Union Pacific Corporation

Nov 20, 20185th CircuitDefendant Win

Jackie Ladapo v. Target Stores, Incorporated

Nov 14, 20185th CircuitDefendant Win

John M. O'Quinn, P.C. v. Natl Union Fire In

Oct 18, 20185th CircuitDefendant Win

E. Drake v. Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld

Oct 18, 20185th CircuitDismissed

Employees' Ret. Sys. of Haw. v. Whole Foods Mkt., Inc.

Oct 3, 20185th CircuitDefendant Win

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.