Skip to main content

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

Wilson

Oct 17, 2002E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

EEOC v. Royer Homes of MS

Oct 17, 20025th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Paterson

Sep 30, 20025th CircuitDismissed

Frito Lay Inc v. NLRB

Sep 24, 20025th CircuitDismissed

Tyler

Sep 16, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

Tyler

Sep 16, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

Oxford

Aug 29, 2002E.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Waldrup

Aug 23, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Hutchison

Aug 13, 2002E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Newsome

Aug 6, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Ehrhardt

Jul 24, 2002E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada v. Sheila Richardson v. Diana James

Jul 22, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Willis

Jul 17, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Moses Elec Svc Inc v. NLRB

Jul 16, 20025th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Reliable Home Health Care, Inc. v. Union Central Insurance

Jul 10, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

Reliable Home Health v. Union Central Ins C

Jul 10, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

Employer's Insurance v. Clark

Jul 1, 20025th CircuitPlaintiff Win

National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa, Plaintiff-Counter v. Mark A. Willis, Defendant-Counter Claimant-Appellant

Jun 25, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Giunta

Jun 6, 2002S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Boone

May 24, 2002S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Gant

May 21, 2002E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Estrada

May 6, 20025th CircuitDismissed

Baton Rouge Oil & Chemical Workers Union v. ExxonMobil Corp.

Apr 23, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Reynolds

Apr 15, 2002E.D. Tex.Dismissed

Georgen-Saad

Apr 11, 2002W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

MS Power Company v. NLRB

Apr 8, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

BMWE

Apr 4, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Escamilla

Apr 1, 2002N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Ingram

Mar 22, 20025th CircuitDismissed

Williams v. Midwest Employers

Mar 22, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

Pace Union, Local 4-1 v. BP PIPELINES (N. AMERICA)

Mar 15, 2002S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Mississippi Power Company, Petitioner-Cross-Respondent v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent-Cross-Petitioner

Mar 14, 20025th CircuitMixed Result

Molina-Parada

Mar 8, 20025th CircuitRemanded

Callahan

Feb 28, 2002S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Rivera

Feb 22, 20025th CircuitDismissed

Rivera v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories

Feb 15, 20025th CircuitDefendant Win

Woodard

Jan 31, 2002S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Vance

Jan 28, 20025th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Judy

Jan 24, 2002N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Estrada

Jan 16, 20025th CircuitDismissed

Wells

Jan 11, 2002E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Yvonne E. Vance v. Union Planters Corp., Union Planters Bank, N.A.

Jan 10, 20025th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Lewis

Dec 28, 2001S.D. Miss.Remanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. TCIM Services, Inc.

Dec 27, 2001E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Lipscomb

Dec 19, 2001S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Washington v. Local 1524 Union

Dec 12, 20015th CircuitDismissed

Nesfield

Nov 30, 20015th CircuitDismissed

National Labor Relations Board v. U.S.A. Polymer Corp.

Nov 6, 20015th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance

Nov 5, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. So Farm Bur Cas Ins

Nov 5, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

Facing something similar at work?Check your rights — free, private, no sign-up

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.