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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

Adamik

Oct 31, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

PDG Chemical Inc. v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union

Oct 11, 2001E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Palafox Hospitality, Ltd.

Sep 19, 2001S.D. Tex.Remanded

Brown

Sep 5, 2001S.D. Miss.Remanded

Breeden

Sep 5, 2001S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Temporary Employment Services v. Trinity Marine Group, Inc.

Aug 30, 20015th CircuitRemanded

Poly-America, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Aug 9, 20015th CircuitMixed Result

Temporary Employment Services v. Trinity Marine Group, Inc.

Aug 7, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Lafargue

Jul 31, 2001S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Northwinds Abatement v. Employers Ins Wausau

Jul 27, 20015th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Herrington

Jul 16, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Northwinds Abatement, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau

Jul 11, 20015th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Myers

Jul 3, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jun 19, 20015th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Adams

Jun 15, 2001E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Weber Aircraft Inc. v. General Warehousemen & Helpers Union Local 767

Jun 7, 20015th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Carter

Jun 7, 2001S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Williams v. Simmons Co.

May 22, 2001N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Adams

May 22, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Chao

Apr 26, 2001N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Willis

Apr 24, 2001S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Willis

Apr 24, 2001S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Moreno-Estrada

Apr 9, 20015th CircuitRemanded

Cousin

Apr 9, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Classroom Teachers of Dallas v. Dallas Independent School District

Apr 6, 2001N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Valmont Industries v. NLRB

Apr 6, 20015th CircuitMixed Result

Union Pacific Resources Group, Inc. v. Rhône-Poulenc, Inc.

Apr 5, 20015th CircuitMixed Result

Coffman

Apr 5, 2001E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Jinks

Apr 4, 2001N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Isaac

Mar 30, 2001N.D. Tex.Dismissed

Adams

Mar 23, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Aboul-Fetouh

Mar 16, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Dunn

Mar 15, 2001S.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Blakeney

Mar 15, 2001S.D. Miss.Remanded

Valmont Industries, Inc., Petitioner-Cross-Respondent v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent-Cross-Petitioner

Mar 12, 20015th CircuitMixed Result

Williams v. Midwest Employers Casualty Co.

Mar 8, 20015th CircuitDismissed

Middleton

Feb 2, 2001N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Baker

Feb 1, 2001S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Adams

Jan 12, 20015th CircuitDismissed

Paris

Jan 8, 2001N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Adams

Jan 3, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Rodriguez

Jan 3, 20015th CircuitDefendant Win

Mitchell v. Union Pacific RR Co

Dec 12, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Baptist Hosp Orange

Dec 12, 20005th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Rivera

Nov 29, 2000S.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Hatteberg

Nov 13, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Rivera

Nov 8, 2000S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Staftex Staffing v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Dept. of Labor

Nov 1, 20005th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Corp.

Oct 30, 2000N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Brown

Oct 25, 2000S.D. Miss.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.