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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

Kendall

Sep 14, 2005N.D. Miss.Dismissed

Riverwood International Corp. v. Employers Insurance

Aug 25, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical & Energy Workers International Union, Local 4-12

Aug 9, 2005M.D. La.Defendant Win

Blum

Aug 8, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Untd Tchr Assoc Ins v. Un Labor Life Ins Co

Aug 8, 20055th CircuitMixed Result

Riverwood Intern. Corp. v. Employers Ins. of Wausau

Aug 4, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

AFGE

Jul 27, 20055th CircuitMixed Result

Bourg

Jul 19, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Jaradat

Jul 18, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Laredo Road Co. v. Maverick County, Texas

Jul 14, 2005W.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Johnson v. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas

Jun 27, 2005N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

United Teacher Associates Insurance v. Union Labor Life Insurance

Jun 24, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Hood

Jun 23, 2005S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Employers Mutual Casualty Co. v. Lennox International, Inc.

Jun 17, 2005S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co.

Jun 6, 2005E.D. La.Plaintiff Win

Walker

Jun 2, 2005N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Poulson

May 31, 2005E.D. Tex.Dismissed

Christiason

May 24, 2005N.D. Tex.Remanded

Torrez

May 11, 2005W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Lamar Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 8, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Acosta

Mar 31, 2005W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Convenience Food Systems, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 31, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Beaird Industries, Inc. v. Local 2297, International Union

Mar 29, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Eliserio

Mar 28, 2005S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Gulf Rice Arkansas, LLC v. Union Pacific Railroad

Mar 24, 2005S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Superior Protection, Inc.

Feb 16, 20055th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Bourgeois

Feb 11, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Feb 3, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. TXI Operations, L.P.

Jan 13, 2005N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Eeoc v. Txi Operations, Lp

Jan 13, 2005N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

United States ex rel. King v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc.

Jan 4, 2005N.D. Tex.Dismissed

CPWH Residential Ltd. v. Union Planters Bank, NA (In Re CPWH Residential Ltd.)

Dec 10, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Independent Coca-Cola Employees' Union v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United, Inc.

Dec 7, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

American Employers' Insurance v. Eagle, Inc.

Dec 6, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Mowdy

Nov 23, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Brazoria County v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Nov 19, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Gerhold

Nov 11, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

In re Electronic Data Systems Corp. "Erisa" Litigation

Nov 8, 2004E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

American Federation of Government Employees Local 1 v. Stone

Nov 2, 2004N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Puckett MacHinery Co., Inc. v. UNITED RENTALS

Oct 29, 2004S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Thompson

Oct 25, 2004E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Sanderson Farms Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Oct 25, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Compass Bank v. King, Griffin & Adamson P.C.

Oct 21, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Wilson

Oct 21, 20045th CircuitDismissed

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours

Oct 15, 2004E.D. La.Mixed Result

USEEOC v. EI DuPont De Nemours

Oct 15, 2004E.D. La.Mixed Result

Celestine

Oct 5, 20045th CircuitRemanded

CCC Group, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 28, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Rock-Tenn Co. v. Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union

Sep 3, 20045th CircuitDefendant Win

Airhart

Aug 25, 2004S.D. Tex.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.