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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

Nlrb v. Ara Automotive Group

Apr 12, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

Rena

Jan 11, 19935th CircuitDefendant Win

Oldham

Dec 16, 1992E.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Louisiana Network, Inc.

Dec 16, 1992M.D. La.Defendant Win

I.M.T.C.

Dec 10, 19925th CircuitDefendant Win

Riverside Cement v. Nlrb

Sep 29, 19925th CircuitDefendant Win

Tarver

Jul 7, 1992W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Nlrb v. Pilgrim Industries

May 20, 19925th CircuitDefendant Win

Carpet Transport v. Nlrb

Jul 25, 19915th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Olson's Dairy Queens, Inc.

Jul 12, 1991S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Bonham

Jul 25, 19905th CircuitDefendant Win

Williams v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Apr 11, 1990E.D. La.Defendant Win

Tarka

Mar 23, 1990W.D. Tex.Dismissed

McCarty Processors v. Nlrb

Mar 23, 19905th CircuitDefendant Win

Nlrb v. McCarty Processors, Inc

Mar 23, 19905th CircuitDefendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southern Publishing Co., Inc.

Feb 23, 19905th CircuitDefendant Win

Unarco Com'l Products v. Nlrb

Sep 8, 19895th CircuitRemanded

Horton Automatics v. Nlrb

Aug 15, 19895th CircuitDefendant Win

North Star Drilling v. Nlrb D

Jun 9, 19895th CircuitDefendant Win

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MISSISSIPPI STATE TAX COMMISSION, Defendant-Appellee

Jun 21, 19885th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Cardell Cabinets, Inc. v. Nlrb D

May 4, 19885th CircuitDefendant Win

Nlrb v. Hearst Corp. D

Jan 7, 19885th CircuitDefendant Win

Fotios

Jul 15, 1987W.D. Tex.Settlement

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. American Federation of Government Employees Local 1617

Jan 16, 1987W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Nlrb v. Alamo Cement Co.

Jan 5, 19875th CircuitMixed Result

Eeoc v. Richardson Sav. & Loan

May 7, 19855th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Eeoc v. International Longshoremen

Oct 17, 19845th CircuitPlaintiff Win

35 Fair empl.prac.cas. 1892, 35 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 34,798 Eeoc v. Allstate Ins. Co

Aug 10, 19845th CircuitRemanded

Nlrb v. Benchmark Industries

Jan 12, 19845th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Eeoc v. A.R.A. Manufacturing

Nov 16, 19835th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Allstate Insurance

Sep 9, 1983S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Group Hospital Service, Inc.

May 14, 1982N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

D Beasley v. Terminal Transport Co., Inc. (U. S. And Eeoc)

Feb 13, 19815th CircuitDefendant Win

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIATION, Defendant-Appellee

Jan 26, 19815th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Peoples Bank of Indianola

Oct 9, 19805th CircuitMixed Result

23 Fair empl.prac.cas. 1824, 24 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 31,211 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Delta Airlines, Inc

Jun 3, 19805th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Jan 18, 1980N.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. United States Steel Corp.

Nov 9, 19795th CircuitMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital

Sep 4, 19795th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Blue Bell, Inc.

Jul 20, 19795th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Lockheed Electronics Co.

Nov 20, 1978S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

United Supermarkets, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Apr 17, 1978N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Browning-Ferris Industries of Louisiana, Inc.

Feb 1, 19775th CircuitMixed Result

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Parish Water Work's Co.

May 10, 1976E.D. La.Defendant Win

Temple-Eastex, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Mar 23, 1976E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HUTTIG SASH & DOOR COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee

Apr 10, 19755th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Grissom

Oct 15, 1973M.D. La.Defendant Win

Answer, Inc. Of San Antonio v. Nlrb

Jul 19, 19735th CircuitMixed Result

Nlrb v. Houston Natural Gas Corp

Jul 13, 19735th CircuitMixed Result

Nlrb v. Service Technology Corporation

Jul 6, 19735th CircuitMixed Result

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.