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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

Santinac

Jun 2, 2015S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Howroyd-Wright

May 14, 20155th CircuitDefendant Win

McKinney Ex Rel. National Labor Relations Board v. Creative Vision Resources, L.L.C.

Apr 13, 20155th CircuitDefendant Win

Aker Kvaerner/Ihi v. National Union Fire Insurance

Apr 10, 20155th CircuitDismissed

Aker Kvaerner IHI v. National Union Fire Ins Co.

Apr 10, 20155th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. A'Gaci, LLC

Feb 5, 2015W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. LHC Group, Inc.

Dec 11, 20145th CircuitMixed Result

Public Employees' Retirement System v. Amedisys, Inc.

Oct 2, 20145th CircuitMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Simbaki, Ltd.

Sep 17, 20145th CircuitRemanded

Dongsheng Huang v. Administrative Review Board, United States Department of Labor

Aug 12, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. v. NLRB

Aug 8, 20145th CircuitRemanded

Mississippi v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 1, 20145th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC

Jul 30, 2014S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Dresser-Rand Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 23, 20145th CircuitRemanded

Estrada v. San Antonio Independent School District

Jul 23, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

O'Quinn P.C. v. National Union Fire Insurance

Jul 17, 2014S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Reymond Meadaa v. K.A.P. Enterprises, L.L.C

Jul 1, 20145th CircuitMixed Result

Lynch v. Union Pacific Railroad

Jun 4, 2014N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Why Nada Cruz, L.L.C. v. ACE American Insurance

Jun 3, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Steven Adams v. Bank of America, N.A.

Jun 3, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Tracy Mitchell v. Union Tank Car, L.L.C.

May 27, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Turner Industries Group, LLC v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 450

May 27, 2014S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Turner Industries Group, LLC v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 450

May 20, 2014S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Griffin v. Kennard Independent School District

May 13, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

In re Wells Fargo Wage & Hour Employment Practices Litigation (No. III)

May 12, 2014S.D. Tex.Settlement

Peter Bernegger v. Sarah Adams

Apr 10, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Memorial Hermann Health System v. Coastal Drilling Co., LLC Employee Benefit Trust

Mar 31, 2014S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

Mar 25, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Flex Frac Logistics, L.L.C. v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 24, 20145th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC

Mar 4, 2014S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Vada De Jongh v. State Farm Lloyds

Feb 20, 20145th CircuitRemanded

Villanueva v. United States Department of Labor

Feb 12, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Frito-Lay, Inc. v. United States Department of Labor

Feb 11, 2014N.D. Tex.Remanded

ConocoPhillips, Inc. v. Local 13-0555 United Steelworkers International Union

Jan 31, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Antonius Heijnen v. Guadalupe Villarreal

Jan 31, 20145th CircuitDismissed

Carey Salt Company v. NLRB

Jan 20, 20145th CircuitMixed Result

D.R. Horton, Incorporated v. NLRB

Jan 20, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Fatima Hernandez-Parada v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Jan 20, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

George Wall v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc.

Jan 20, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

George Wall v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc.

Jan 10, 20145th CircuitDefendant Win

Tammy Bell v. Jon Thornburg

Dec 31, 20135th CircuitDefendant Win

Tammy Bell v. Jon Thornburg

Dec 30, 20135th CircuitDefendant Win

Island Operating Co. v. Director, Office of Worker's Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor

Dec 20, 20135th CircuitRemanded

Ball v. LeBlanc

Dec 19, 2013M.D. La.Defendant Win

D.R. Horton, Incorporated v. NLRB

Dec 4, 20135th CircuitDefendant Win

D.R. Horton, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 3, 20135th CircuitDefendant Win

Carey Salt Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Nov 21, 20135th CircuitMixed Result

Joel Bradberry v. Jefferson County, Texas

Oct 17, 20135th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Boh Brothers Const Co., L.L.C.

Oct 1, 20135th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Boh Bros. Construction Co.

Sep 27, 20135th CircuitMixed 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.