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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

Adame

Oct 25, 20005th CircuitMixed Result

Marshall Durbin Poultry Co. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1991

Oct 13, 2000S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Alexander

Sep 19, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Premier Operator Services, Inc.

Sep 13, 2000N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Garner

Aug 28, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Tillman

Aug 28, 2000N.D. Miss.Plaintiff Win

Condere Corporation v. Local Union 303L

Jul 12, 20005th CircuitRemanded

Jones

Jul 7, 2000E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Erly Industries v. M/V Chada Naree

Jul 7, 20005th CircuitRemanded

Clancy

Jun 26, 2000E.D. La.Defendant Win

Estate of Bratton v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa

Jun 20, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Nesfield

Jun 19, 20005th CircuitDismissed

Bourgeois

Jun 14, 20005th CircuitRemanded

Adam

Jun 13, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Jackson v. United States Department of Labor

Jun 12, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Mallard Bay Drilling, Inc. v. Alexis Herman, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor

Jun 2, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

May 24, 20005th CircuitRemanded

Local 100, Service Employees International Union v. Integrated Health Services, Inc.

May 23, 2000M.D. La.Dismissed

Rhea

May 12, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Adam

May 10, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Scott Underwood Adam v. Itech Oil Company

May 10, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Riley

May 1, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Hays

Apr 28, 2000N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Vance

Apr 25, 20005th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Foster

Mar 17, 20005th CircuitMixed Result

Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

Feb 17, 2000N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

New Orleans Cold Storage & Warehouse Co., Ltd. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 15, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Corp.

Feb 14, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Kiger

Feb 11, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Fuller

Feb 4, 2000E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Norris

Jan 31, 20005th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Corp.

Jan 28, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Musser Davis Land Co. v. Union Pacific Resources

Jan 21, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

Herrington

Jan 21, 2000S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Jarvis Christian College v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jan 6, 20005th CircuitDefendant Win

White

Dec 14, 1999N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Lee v. Henderson

Dec 1, 1999E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Wayne

Nov 24, 1999N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, - Mary Boyle, Intervenor v. R.J. Gallagher Company

Sep 13, 19995th CircuitMixed Result

Owsley

Sep 13, 19995th CircuitDefendant Win

Pioneer Concrete v. NLRB

Sep 3, 19995th CircuitDefendant Win

Peavy

Aug 31, 1999N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

McCall

Aug 31, 1999N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Taylor

Jun 28, 1999N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Newsome

Jun 8, 19995th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Dillard Dept Store

Apr 20, 19995th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Sims

Mar 31, 1999S.D. Miss.Remanded

Lind

Feb 19, 1999N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Carrabba

Feb 18, 1999N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Borninski

Dec 31, 1998N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

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.