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Employment Rulings in the First Circuit

The First Circuit covers the federal courts in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 1,014 published rulings we track here (19802026), 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 1,014 published rulings we track in the First Circuit.

Defendant Win
410 (40%)
Plaintiff Win
186 (18%)
Mixed Result
175 (17%)
Dismissed
136 (13%)
Remanded
86 (8%)
Settlement
21 (2%)

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 996 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
419 (42%)

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
194 (19%)

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 194 summary-judgment rulings here, 111 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 83 let the worker’s claims continue.

Motion to dismiss
309 (31%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
30 (3%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
19 (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
16 (2%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
9 (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 First Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the First Circuit

Liviz

Mar 4, 2019D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Perez-Tejada

Feb 21, 2019D. Mass.Dismissed

Geiman

Feb 15, 2019D. Mass.Defendant Win

TargetSmart Holdings, LLC v. GHP ADVISORS, LLC

Feb 6, 2019D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Burnham

Jan 7, 2019D. Mass.Dismissed

Wickberg

Dec 19, 2018D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

IN RE: G.E. ERISA LITIGATION

Dec 14, 2018D. Mass.Mixed Result

Burnham

Dec 14, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Cotten

Dec 6, 2018D. Mass.Dismissed

Mercado

Dec 4, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Ayele

Nov 15, 2018D. Mass.Remanded

Bell v. United States District Court

Nov 5, 2018D. Mass.Mixed Result

Martinez

Oct 16, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

United Food & Commercial Workers Unions v. Warner Chilcott Ltd. (In Re Asacol Antitrust Litig.)

Oct 15, 20181st CircuitSettlement

R. Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Quality Granite and Cabinetry, LLC and Christopher Bouchard

Oct 2, 2018D.N.H.Plaintiff Win

Penate

Sep 27, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Kamerer

Sep 21, 2018D. Mass.Dismissed

Rathman

Sep 12, 2018D. Me.Defendant Win

Brown-Morrison

Sep 10, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Diaz

Aug 28, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Takki

Aug 15, 2018D. Mass.Mixed Result

General Star Indemnity Co. v. Adam P. Beck, M.D., et al. v. General Star Indemnity Co. et al

Aug 13, 2018D.N.H.Defendant Win

CSX Transportation, Inc. v. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Aug 10, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Li

Aug 2, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Parada

Jul 30, 2018D. Me.Mixed Result

In re Wells Fargo Erisa 401(K) Litig.

Jul 19, 2018D. Me.Defendant Win

Sullivan

Jul 19, 2018D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Acosta

Jul 11, 20181st CircuitDefendant Win

Hernandez

Jul 11, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Hoffman

Jul 9, 2018D. Mass.Mixed Result

Sceviour

Jul 9, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Kuznarowis

Jun 28, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Bruce

Jun 18, 2018D. Mass.Remanded

Hernandez

May 25, 2018D. Mass.Remanded

Hohmann

May 17, 2018D. Mass.Mixed Result

Halberg

May 14, 2018D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Alasaad

May 9, 2018D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Young

May 9, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Fleming

May 3, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Scolnick

May 2, 2018D. Mass.Dismissed

McAnarney

Apr 30, 2018D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Santello

Apr 23, 2018D. Mass.Mixed Result

Masomi

Apr 11, 2018D. Mass.Dismissed

Sheppard

Mar 14, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Gordon Simmons and Siegelinde Simmons v. Service Credit Union

Mar 12, 2018D.N.H.Defendant Win

Rios

Mar 7, 2018D. Mass.Dismissed

Masomi

Mar 1, 2018D. Mass.Dismissed

Elliott-Lewis

Mar 1, 2018D. Mass.Plaintiff Win

Allstate

Feb 13, 2018D.N.H.Defendant Win

Flowers

Feb 5, 2018D. Mass.Defendant Win

Showing 451500 of 1,014 rulings · Page 10 of 21

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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.