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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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Fawn Vendors, Inc.

Sep 26, 1996S.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Astorga

Sep 11, 1996W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Jenkins

Aug 22, 1996S.D. Tex.Dismissed

NLRB v. Borden, Inc

Aug 6, 19965th CircuitPlaintiff Win

ASARCO, Inc. v. NLRB

Jul 10, 19965th CircuitMixed Result

Concordia Elec Coop v. NLRB

Jul 9, 19965th CircuitDefendant Win

Messer

Jul 8, 1996W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Cobb Mechanical v. NLRB

Jun 6, 19965th CircuitMixed Result

Eeoc v. Wynell, Inc

Jun 6, 19965th CircuitMixed Result

Ta

May 22, 1996W.D. Tex.Remanded

Jackie SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, Defendant-Appellant, and UNUM Life Insurance Company, Defendant

May 15, 19965th CircuitRemanded

NLRB v. Flexsteel Industry

Mar 26, 19965th CircuitPlaintiff Win

NLRB v. Pilgrim Industries

Mar 21, 19965th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Turtle Creek Mansion

Mar 8, 19965th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Turtle Creek Mansion

Mar 8, 19965th CircuitDefendant Win

Flowerette

Nov 7, 1995N.D. Tex.Remanded

Hamilton

Aug 9, 1995S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

EEOC v. Clear Lake Dodge

Jul 26, 19955th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Arthur H. WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CIGNA FINANCIAL ADVISORS, INC., Et Al., Defendants-Appellants

Jun 19, 19955th CircuitRemanded

Lloyd SWITZER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WAL-MART STORES, INC., Defendant-Appellant

May 12, 19955th CircuitDefendant Win

Young

Apr 28, 1995W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Chemtech International Corp.

Apr 5, 1995S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Donald J. CHAILLAND, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. BROWN & ROOT, INC., Defendant-Appellant

Feb 23, 19955th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Audubon Insurance v. Terry Road Wine & Liquor, Inc.

Feb 14, 1995S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

McDaniel

Nov 29, 1994S.D. Miss.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Shoney's, Inc., D/B/A Fifth Quarter Restaurants

Aug 18, 19945th CircuitDefendant Win

Bowers

Aug 11, 1994W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Jackson v. Liberty County

Jul 26, 1994E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. BAILEY FORD, INC., Defendant-Appellee, Cross-Appellant

Jul 21, 19945th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Clear Lake Dodge

Jun 24, 19945th CircuitMixed Result

NLRB v. Hi-Tech Cable

Jun 3, 19945th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Breazeale

May 19, 19945th CircuitDefendant Win

Dailey

May 11, 1994N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Beech Aerospace v. NLRB

May 9, 19945th CircuitDefendant Win

Switzer

May 3, 1994N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Coghlan

May 3, 1994N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

NLRB v. D.S.E. Concrete Forms, Inc.

Apr 28, 19945th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Smith v. St. Regis Corp.

Mar 31, 1994S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

NLRB v. Am. Transportation Ser

Feb 4, 19945th CircuitDefendant Win

Hill

Feb 2, 1994S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Aldridge

Feb 1, 1994S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

NLRB v. Cwm, Inc. D

Dec 7, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

William R. PERDUE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BURGER KING CORPORATION, Craig Bushey, and the Benefits Committee, Defendants-Appellees

Dec 1, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

NLRB v. Albertson's Inc

Oct 18, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

Delta Health Center v. NLRB

Sep 20, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. General Dynamics Corp., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. General Dynamics Corporation

Aug 30, 19935th CircuitRemanded

Bernard

Aug 19, 1993E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

KRAL, INC., D/B/A Ed’s Automatic Transmission Service, Et Al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SOUTHWESTERN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee

Aug 16, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

Nlrb v. New Orleans Stevedoring

Jul 2, 19935th CircuitMixed Result

Sunbelt Manufacturing v. Nlrb

Jun 21, 19935th CircuitMixed Result

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.