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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

Sheckley

Feb 17, 2005D. Me.Mixed Result

Massachusetts v. Mylan Laboratories

Feb 4, 2005D. Mass.Mixed Result

Hospital General Menonita v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 23, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

McAdams

Dec 1, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

Adam

Nov 30, 2004D.N.H.Dismissed

County of Suffolk v. Abbott Laboratories

Sep 30, 2004D. Mass.Mixed Result

National Union Fire Insurance v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co.

Sep 27, 20041st CircuitRemanded

Satterfield

Sep 14, 2004D. Me.Remanded

Bath Iron Works v. Workers Compensation

Aug 30, 20041st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Local Union No. 12004, United Steelworkers v. Massachusetts

Jul 30, 20041st CircuitRemanded

NLRB v. EAD Motors, et al.

Jul 22, 2004D.N.H.Plaintiff Win

Black v. Unum Life Insurance Co. of America

Jun 22, 2004D. Me.Mixed Result

Southern Union Co. v. Lynch

Jun 18, 2004D.R.I.Plaintiff Win

Nevada v. American Home Products Corp.

Jun 10, 2004D. Mass.Mixed Result

Stone v. First Union Corporation

Jun 3, 20041st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Univar, USA, Inc. v. Teamsters Union Local 251

May 25, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

California Public Employees' Retirement System v. Worldcom, Inc.

May 11, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

Canada

Apr 22, 2004D.P.R.Defendant Win

Hasan

Mar 24, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

Hasan

Mar 24, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

Ivy

Mar 9, 2004D. Mass.Defendant Win

Freeman v. First Union National

Mar 9, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

E.C. Waste, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Feb 25, 20041st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Zamboni

Feb 20, 2004D. Mass.Defendant Win

Nicholas La Grasta, Domenico La Grasta, and Mauro La Grasta, on Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly Situated v. First Union Securities, Inc.

Jan 30, 20041st CircuitRemanded

John Acevedo v. First Union National Bank, a Foreign Banking Corporation

Jan 26, 20041st CircuitRemanded

González-Pérez

Jan 14, 20041st CircuitDefendant Win

Thompson

Jan 9, 2004D. Mass.Defendant Win

Eon Laboratories, Inc. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp.

Dec 23, 2003D. Mass.Defendant Win

Associated Press v. UNION DE PERIODISTAS

Dec 12, 2003D.P.R.Plaintiff Win

Johnson v. SCHOOL UNION, 107

Dec 11, 2003D. Me.Mixed Result

Adams

Dec 3, 2003D. Me.Plaintiff Win

First Healthcare Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board

Dec 2, 20031st CircuitDefendant Win

O'Halloran v. First Union National Bank of Florida

Nov 14, 20031st CircuitRemanded

Vescom Corp. v. MERRION REINSURANCE CO., LTD.

Sep 19, 2003D. Me.Plaintiff Win

Kakides

Sep 18, 2003D. Mass.Defendant Win

American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees, Council 93 Local 1370 v. Olympus Specialty & Rehabilitation Hospital

Sep 3, 2003D. Mass.Defendant Win

Scadif, S.A. v. First Union National

Sep 2, 20031st CircuitDefendant Win

Safe Environment of America, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau

Aug 26, 2003D. Mass.Defendant Win

Healy

Aug 7, 2003D. Mass.Mixed Result

Hazard

Aug 6, 2003D.R.I.Defendant Win

AMERICAN EMPLOYERS'INSURANCE COMPANY v. Swiss Reinsurance America Corp.

Aug 5, 2003D. Mass.Mixed Result

Bath Iron Works Corp. v. United States Department of Labor

Jul 17, 20031st CircuitPlaintiff Win

Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 791

Jun 23, 2003D.R.I.Defendant Win

Tennian

Jun 12, 2003D.R.I.Defendant Win

Montana v. Abbot Laboratories

Jun 11, 2003D. Mass.Mixed Result

Liston

May 27, 20031st CircuitDefendant Win

McIntosh

May 13, 2003D. Mass.Mixed Result

Freeman v. First Union National

May 7, 20031st CircuitRemanded

Trustees of Boston University v. Beacon Laboratories, Inc.

May 6, 2003D. Mass.Defendant Win

Showing 801850 of 1,014 rulings · Page 17 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.