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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

Bombardier Aerospace Employee Welfare Benefits Plan v. Ferrer, Poirot and Wansbrough, Ferrer, Poirot and Wansbrough Steven Mestemacher

Dec 17, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Dow Chemical Co. v. Local No. 564, International Union of Operating Engineers

Dec 17, 20035th CircuitMixed Result

Worthy

Dec 16, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Hampton

Dec 15, 2003S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Bodine

Dec 12, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

United Ass'n of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry of the United States & Canada v. International Maintenance Co.

Nov 13, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

New Process Steel Corp. v. Union Pacific Railroad

Nov 10, 20035th CircuitRemanded

Hatteberg

Nov 6, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Reliant Energy Services, Inc. v. Enron Canada Corp.

Oct 29, 20035th CircuitRemanded

In Re Enron Corp. Securities, Derivative & ERISA

Oct 16, 2003S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Smith v. UNION NAT'L. LIFE INS. CO.

Oct 2, 2003S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Smith v. Union National Life Insurance

Oct 2, 2003S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Hutchison

Sep 30, 2003E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Hamm

Sep 17, 2003N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. K&B Louisiana Corp.

Sep 16, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Roberson

Aug 14, 20035th CircuitDismissed

Andrews

Aug 8, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Medical Care America, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh

Aug 5, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc. v. Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union Local 4-487

Jul 23, 20035th CircuitMixed Result

Baker Concrete Construction Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 22, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Fajardo-Estrada

Jul 7, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Sanderson Farms, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 3, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

J. Vallery Electric, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jul 1, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Lipscomb

Jun 30, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Brown & Root, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 24, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

La Gloria Oil & Gas v. NLRB

Jun 6, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Vaughn

Jun 3, 2003E.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Toney

Jun 2, 2003S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Nunn, Yoest, Prin v. Union Pacific Corp

Jun 2, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

International Chemical Workers Union, Local 683c v. Columbian Chemicals Co.

May 30, 20035th CircuitMixed Result

General Warehousemen & Helpers Union Local 767 v. Albertson's Distribution, Inc.

May 30, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. Albis Plastics

May 15, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc. v. Paper, Allied Industrial Chemical & Energy Workers International Union Local 4-487

May 7, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

J

May 2, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

Lara

May 2, 2003W.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Carlson

Apr 17, 2003N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

National Union Fire Insurance v. Hibernia National Bank

Apr 14, 2003W.D. La.Mixed Result

Kenney

Apr 3, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

AXA S.A. v. Union Pacific Railroad

Mar 28, 2003S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Reliant Energy Services, Inc. v. Enron Canada Corp.

Mar 22, 2003S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Philip

Mar 20, 20035th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Gallup Inc

Feb 28, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Tellepsen Pipeline Services Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 14, 20035th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Rainwater

Feb 14, 2003S.D. Miss.Remanded

Tellepsen Pipel Svcs v. NLRB

Feb 14, 20035th CircuitMixed Result

United Ass'n of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States & Canada v. International Maintenance Co.

Feb 12, 2003M.D. La.Defendant Win

Raven Services Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 18, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Dow Chemical Co. v. LOCAL NO. 564, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS

Dec 13, 2002S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

NLRB v. Colburn Electric Co

Dec 9, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Worldwide Labor Support of Mississippi, Inc. v. United States

Nov 15, 20025th CircuitRemanded

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.